Second Best
by Hades'Queen
Summary: Please Read! FINALLY UPDATED! So Luna likes Harry and begins to think that she is only second best compared to Hermione. It's worh reading. This story is nearly complete.
1. Part I

Disclamaire: I don't own Luna, Hermione or Harry. Neither do I own Snape or Ron.  
  
A/N: I wrote this because of the situation between me, my friend and her knew boyfriend (who happens to be the guy that I liked so much. The guy I had told her I liked so much and she decided to date anyway).  
  
Dedication: This is dedicated to my friend and her boyfriend. I'm not the best for him, she is, and they're the reason I wrote this. They inspired me, and I thank them.  
  
Summary: Luna is now a sixth year and she gets along very well with Harry. She even falls in love with him. But to she's only second best.  
  
SECOND BEST  
  
Luna Lovegod sat at the Ravenclaw table and watched the Griffindor table. She could see the dark haired boy with green eyes laughing and having fun with the dirty-blonde, bushy haired girl with brown dough eyes. She did not yet understand how she had allowed herself to fall in love. How she had let someone past her seemingly crazy beariers that hid the true her. She had allowed someone to walk into her life and take what did not belong to him like some common thief. He took something of hers without wanting it and made her believe that she was second best. But now that she looked back on it, she realised that she should not have been so quick to think of herself as second best. After all, just because she was not right for him, did not make her only second best. It just meant that she was meant for somebody else. That he was not the one for her.  
  
It had all started in the begining of her fifth year. She had opened up to Harry the previous year and told him what she hadn't even told anyone before. She told him that her mother had died and that was perhaps the start of it all. The following year they had something in common. The loss of somone big in their life. Since she had learned to make her grief subside she spent many nights showing him how. In the process they got to know each other and had become great friends. She let him see her normal side. The side that had been hidden by Loony Lovegood.  
  
That had been her mistake. She let him in. She let him see th true her. After he saw the true her and did not push her away caused her to begin to like him. She saw the real Harry. She saw Harry, not the-boy-who-lived. She saw him for who he was and she felt that she would never find another like him.  
  
After months and moths of sieng him and having good times with him, she began to know that she was indeed in love. She often times contemplated telling him, but she could not find the words to say. How do you explain something you don't completely understand? So she did the thing that she thought was only logical. She asked Hermione.  
  
Hermione was a bright and sensitive girl. She knew alot about Harry, well actualy she knew alot about many things, and it only made sense to ask for her advice. So she went to Hermione for advice. Hermione had told her that she should tell Harry how she feels for him. So Luna decided that she would do as Hermione had told her. After all with advice from Hermione she couldn't go wrong, right?  
  
Wrong. She found that out the hard way. It had been a cold Feburary afternoon in her sixth year when she decided that she would tell Harry her feelings. He was standing in the hallway with his friends when she had approached him. She could still remember the day as if it where yesterday.  
  
"Harry can I talk to you?" He had merely noded and followed her away from his friends. "Harry I like you alot."  
  
"I like you to Lun-"  
  
"No, Hary I mean I really like you," she had said. She remembered that she had been unable to look at him in the face and she had looked down at her feet. "I don't know how this happened, but I really like you. Whenever I see you I get weak, I feel so stupid for feeling so weak, but the fact is that I have very strong feelings for you." She had than looked up at him and he was shocked. After a couple of minutes he finally seemed to snap out of it.  
  
"Luna," he started. "I don't know what to say. I mean I thought that you only saw me as a friend," he said looking down at her. She looked up into his green eyes and she could see that he was feeling sorrow. "Luna you're a great girl and I really like you, but...... I like someone else." She had suddenly felt a sharp pain in her chest. As if she had been stabbed through the heart with a icicle. "Luna don't get me wrong. You're a beautiful, attractive girl and any boy out there would be lucky to have you, but I have strong feelings for someone else. I'm very, sorry, you don't understand how sorry I am if I cause you any pain. I don't mean to."  
  
"I'm okay," Luna said hastily looking up at him. "But do you mind If I ask who?"  
  
"Well...... It's...... It's Hermione," he responded slowly. Her heart seemed to plumet to the bottom of her stomach. She could feel the acids in her stomach begin to deterioate her heart. The acids scorched her heart and melted it to nothing.  
  
"Oh," Luna said loking down. After that point everything seemed to become hazy and ambiguous. The rest of tha day she walked through like a zombie. She did not know what went on around her and she did not know what else she was to do. There was nothing that could stop the pain that she felt inside. There was nothing to make her feel better. No one was there to tell her everything was going to be just fine. No on was there to tell her that Harry did not know what he was missing.  
  
For a couple of weeks, she watched them together. How they seemed so very close. They where always laughing and he always seemed to have his arm around her. There didn't seem to pass a day where she did not see them together. Everytime she saw them together it was like a whole within her kept getting wider and wider. Or something like a black whole. A wonderful star had once iluminated her and than all of a sudden there was a big bang and it soon collapsed into it's self. It began to suck in everything until the point where there would be nothing left.  
  
One day, half way through march, she had been walking down the hall and soon noticed that Ron and Harry where walking in front of her. She could feel her stomach tighten as she realised that she was walking right behind the one she had adored so much. The one who had torn her heart into shreads. "So Harry, where's your girlfriend, Mione?" Ron had asked. The second she heard that she felt her stomach tighten painfully.  
  
"I don't know, I'm going to see her right now," Harry responded and Luna stopped in her tracks. She watched as the boys kept walking onwards not once noticing that she had been walking down the hall behind them. She than fell to the floor. She had known that Harry and Hermione where probably dating, but to have her suspicions confirmed hurted. Her chest began to fill with pain and she had begun to have troubles breathing.  
  
"Miss Lovegood get off the floor," she heard Snape growl out to her. She looked up at him holding her chest. She breathed in heavily trying to get air to her lungs. Snape looked down at her and noticed her labored breathing and her eyes where glazed. "What's wrong?" he asked kneeling down beside her.  
  
"Asthma..." she started breathing in just as heavily as before. "Attack." Snape imediately picked her off the floor and took her to the hospital wing. This was the first time since she was a first year that she had a Asthma attack. The last time it was brought on when she was on her broom. That had not been a pleasent experience and she found that this time it wasn't any better.  
  
After being treated she looked up at Madam Pomfrey and Snape, who for some reason was still standing there. They both looked down at her with worried faces. Which was strange for she had never seen Snape worried about anything in her entire time at Hogwarts. "Miss Lovegood what where you doing that caused you to have an asthma attack?" Madam Pomfrey asked.  
  
"Nothing, I was merely been walking down the hall," Luna responded truthfully. This earned her a skepticall look from both teachers.  
  
"Well since you seem well now I cannot keep you for the night. Not even if I wished to," Madam Promfrey said in a resigned tone of voice. Luna noded and got off the bed as Madam Pomfrey walked away. Luna looked up to see that Professor Snape was still staring at her.  
  
"Funny how you can have an Asthma attack by merely walking down a hall," he said in his cold usual voice. His right eyebrow raised. "Or may it be who you where walking behind that caused you to have the attack," he continued and at this statement she blushed and looked away. This caused Snape to smile as he saw that he was right. "Well isn't that interesting. Miss Lovegood has an infatuation with Mr. Potter."  
  
"I do not have an infatuation with him," she said looking up at him.  
  
"Really Miss Lovegood, than why do you blush?" he asked. Once again Luna blushed and turned away. "If it is not he that caused your attack than what did?"  
  
"Something he said," she responded still not looking at him.  
  
"And what was it that he said that made you have an attack?" he asked.  
  
"ThathewasdatingHermione," she mumbled, quickly and inaudibly as she looked at her feet.  
  
"Pardon Miss Lovegoood I didn't hear that," Snape said as a sadistic smirk came over his face. Luna felt hot tears welling up in her eyes.  
  
"That he was dating Hermione," she said barely above a whisper. Snape however caught it.  
  
"And why would that make you have an attack?" he ask sadistically.  
  
"Because I'm only second best to her," she responded. At this point his dislike for Hermione overcame the joy he was getting from watching Luna in pain.  
  
"Well Potter is an idiot boy to think that the isuferable know it all Granger is the best," he said. This caused Luna to look up in confusion. However Snape wasn't lookint at her, but looking around. He looked irritated. "Than again he is an idiot teenage boy who would not know what was best for him if it hit him over that overlarge head of his," he continued. Luna wasn't quite sure if Snape was trying to make her feel better or wether he truly disliked Harry and Hermione that much. However it didn't really matter, because eitherway she did feel better. She smiled at her Professor. He than turned and when he saw her smiling at him he grimaced. "Wha are you smiling at?"  
  
"Nothing Professor," she responded shaking her head keeping her smile in place. "Thank you professor, I have to go now," she said as she bounced away.  
  
Snape stood there and shook his head. "Silly girl," he muttered to himself.  
  
THE END  
  
Liked it? Please review, even if you didn't like it. 


	2. Part II

Second Best: Part II  
  
The weeks seemed to pass by like days. She soon found that it was already the begining of June. Although she had been put through alot with Hermione and Harry she still found that she was quite close to both of them. Seemingly she was closer to Harry now more than ever. He seemed to enjoy her company more now. She even dared to think that he flirted with her. Than she thought it was merely perpostrous for him to be flirting with her while he was dating Hermione.  
  
She rolled her eyes and pushed that thought away. That would never happen. He had chosen Hermione over herself and that was clearly because he thought that she was the best for him. He was merely being overly friendly because he knew that he had wounded her deeply. There was nothing more to it than that. She sighed as she began to realize that there would never be aything between Harry and herself.  
  
Now what she needed to do was move on. But she found that it was very hard to move on. It would be easier to move on by starting to like someone else. But she knew that liking someone else was not option. Liking someone else would only land her in the same spot that she was already in. It would be going back to square one. What was the point in that? In any case, it wasn't like starting to like somone else was the easiest thing in the world. Unlike her Griffindor, red head friend, she did not move on so quickly. She found that it was very hard to start liking someone else.  
  
"Hey Luna," Ginny said was she came over to her and sat next to her. Luna turned to her red head friend and smiled at her. Ginny always knew where to find her. If she was ever missing from the Great Hall in time for a meal she was either at the library or here, in a thicket near the lake. It was a small place right next to the lake sourounded on all sides by trees. The sun shined down directly in the middle and that's where she liked to sit.  
  
"Hello Ginny," she responded. "Why aren't you in the Great Hall eating?"  
  
"Well I just wanted to see if you where all right and I was wondering what you where doing in the summer," Ginny responded as she looked at her friend.  
  
"I'm perfectly fine Ginny. As for the summer, I believe that I will simply be going home. Why do you ask?" Luna responded as she looked at the red head sitting next to her. It was quite peculiar for her friend to be asking her. She had asked once on twice before, but that was to make polite conversation. She had, however, never really cared for the answer. She always seemed to roll her eyes when Luna responded. But it was different this time, Ginny seemed genuinely interested.  
  
"Well the thing is that I'm going to Romania for two weeks with Ron in the begining of the summer holidays. We are going to be visiting Charlie and I don't want to be the only girl there. Besides Ron and Charlie will be so busy together they will forget that I'm even going to be around," Ginny responded. "So I was wondering if you would like to come along."  
  
"Well don't you get along with Charlie?" Luna asked.  
  
"Well yes I do, but Charlie and I are ten years apart and the gap between him and Ron is slightly smaller. Besides they are both boys and that gives them something more in common," she responded.  
  
"Well I'm sure my father wouldn't mind me going, but do you think that Charlie will like having another guest?" she asked.  
  
"I have already asked and he said that he wouldn't mind at all. In fact he said the more the merrier," Ginny responded. "So please ask your dad to let you go and PLEASE come with me. I don't think I'll be able to bear two weeks with two brothers. They both will drive me bonkers." With that Ginny smiled and bounced off. Luna watched her friend walk away and shook her head.  
  
Luna sighed and got off the floor. She made her way to the castle and to Ravenclaw common room. Once she made it back she made her way up the stairs to her dormitory. She took out a piece of parchment from her trunk and sat on her bed. She grabbed an ink bottle and her favourite quill from her bedside and started to write the letter to her father. Once she was done she walked off to the owelry.  
  
One bright, sunny and very humid sunday morning Luna walked into the Great Hall and sat down for some breakfast. The owls soon began to fly in and drop posts. Luna soon got hers. She imediately tore it open and read through the letter from her father. She than walked over to the Griffindor table. As she neared she could tell that Hermione, Harry, and Ron had all turned to look at her.  
  
"Hello Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Harry," she said with a smile.  
  
"Hello Luna," everyone chorused.  
  
"Ginny my dad let me go," she said turning her attention to Ginny. Ginny smiled broadly, got up and hugged her friend for dear life.  
  
"Thank Merlin. I won't be going bonkers this break after all," she said aloud. Luna giggle lightly and squirmed out of her friends bone crushing hug.  
  
"She can go where?" asked Ron suddenly. Ginny turned to her brother.  
  
"Luna will be joining us to Romania," she responded cheerily. Ron than exchange looks with Harry.  
  
"Does Charlie know about this?" Ron asked.  
  
"Yes," Ginny said nodding her head vigorously. "I sent him an owl two weeks ago asking him if I could invite a friend. He said that I could." Ginny suddenly turned to Luna. "Luna you have never met Charlie have you?"  
  
"Charlie is the only one of your brothers I have not met. I met Bill when I went to Gringotts last year. He was very nice to me," she responded. "Well I think that I should be going now. I have detention with Snape."  
  
"Why do you have detention? You've never had detention," Harry said. Luna turned to look at him. She had no idea how he knew that, but she pushed the thought away.  
  
"I accidentally hit him on the head with my wand," she responded.  
  
"How did that happen?" asked Hermione.  
  
"Well I had been tapping my wand on the desk," she responded. Everyone, except Ginny, gave her a look. She knew that they where all wondering why she had been tapping her wand. "I tend to tap my wand when I'm nervous or bored. Anyway I was tapping my wand on the desk rather fast and hard. The next thing I know my wand is flying out of my hand and off to the right. When I turned to the right, I was just in time to see Snape get him on the forehead with it. It was amusing to watch for half a second. Than he turned all red and looked like he was about to explode."  
  
"How long do you have detention for?" Ron asked.  
  
"Today, Friday night and Saturday morning," she responded.  
  
"But we leave Saturday," Ginny said. "He can't possibly want you to spend the last couple hours at Hogwarts this year with him."  
  
"He apparently does. I have detention on saturday from eight in the morning to eleven thirty. Today it's from now until ten," Luna responded.  
  
"What about on Friday?" Ginny asked.  
  
"Six in the evening to eight."  
  
"But the end of term feast is at six. Can he even do that?" Ginny said.  
  
"I guess he can," Luna said with a shrug. "Well I have to go. I'm already five minutes late for detention. Professor Snape is going to have a fit." She than spun around and walked out of the hall. She walked quickly so that she would make it down to the dungeons quickly. She herself had no idea why he chose those times for detention.  
  
As she walked into the Dungeon she realised that she was indeed late. She was now eight minutes late. She looked about the classroom and found Snape standing at the board. "You are eight minutes late," he said as he faced the board. He was writing something on it, something that she could not yet see. It was strange because he was doing so manually, usually he just flicked his wand at the board. "One would think that someone would at least bother to be on time, especially when you are wasting someone else's valuable time."  
  
She stared at his back. "Yes, just like one could only ask for the person that is scolding them to at least look at them," she suddenly said, which caused Snape to whirl around. "And I'm sorry professor I wasn't aware that your sundays where so valuable," she continued. She than stopped herself as she realised what she was saying and who she was saying it too.  
  
"Miss Lovegood are you mouthing off to me?" he asked dangerously as he walked over to her. Luna merely stared at him.  
  
"Professon Snape as long as you have known me, when have you ever been succesful at intimidating me? Never, if my memory doesn't desieve me, so what makes you think that you can now?" Luna suddenly said. She had no idea where all of this was coming from, but she wasn't going to stop it. It came so naturally to her, that made her know that this was happening for a reason. After all, as she believe, 'There are no mistakes, no coincidences. All events happen for a reason'.  
  
"And in all the time that you have been here, you have never answered back," he said as he neared her.  
  
"Well times change, people change," she said with a shrug. She than sat on a desk. She found that this was a very uncharacteristic thing for her to do, but found that she did it anyway. It was like she had no control or like she didn't even want control over the situation. Besides, she was curious to know where this would lead to.  
  
"Do you wish me to believe that you have changed in one day?" he asked.  
  
"You would have initially had to know me to think that it had only taken me one day to turn into what I am now. Of course for that you would have to try and get to know people, instead of being the antisocial bat that you are," she snapped. She than stopped herself and thought of what she had just done. She looked at her professor and she could see that he was merely staring at her in what she would call astonishment. She than saw an angry gleam leap into his eyes.  
  
"GET OUT," he said through grited teeth.  
  
"Gladly," she said as she whirled around and waltzed out of the classroom. She decided that once she was outside that she at least didn't get into trouble and didn't have to spend the rest of the morning with Snape. So generally she believe that it was a good thing. Not many could tell off Snape and remain unscathed. Yes this was something that she should be proud of. Yet she could not help, but wonder why he didn't do or say anything. He didn't even take house points away for crying out loud! There was certainly something off about that.  
  
She decided that she would not mull over it for the time being. There was no point, because she would not find the answers. She decided that the best thing to do at the moment was just to head back to her dormitory and complete her homework. After all she still had two essays to write for she had been procrastinating and they where both due the very next day. She sighed and made her way to her dorm. It would be a very long day.  
  
The days passed by very quickly. She had one class with Snape all week and Snape did not so much as look at her during the whole class period. She didn't much care, she rather perferred this than the usual name calling. Since the first year she had arrived at Hogwarts Snape loved to embarrass her. She found out in her fifth year the reason that he had picked on her so much in her first year was because she reminded him of Hermione. After her first year he picked on her because she was so eccentric. However, he knew that he could not embarass her by making her seem stupid in front of the class, for she was one of the very best in potions. Her skills in Potions, according to Snape, surpassed the skill of Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger put together.  
  
This had always gave her some comfert. To know that she was better than Hermione at at least one thing. She always wanted to be thought of as very different from Hermione Granger in both academics and personality. No one likes to be the exact copy of someone else. Everyone wants to be their own person and accepted as their own person. However some people can't have both.  
  
Luna sighed once more as she made her way to the Dungeons. The last night she would be at Hogwarts this year and she had to spend it with Snape. She found it to be such a shame. She had been looking forward to the last night in the year to spend it doing the same that she did every year, but this year she could not. Alhough, her things had not been stolen this year and she would have atctually been able to attend the end of term feast this year. Oh well, she thought, there is always next year.  
  
With that she opened the door to the Dungeon. She stepped inside and looked about the classroom. Snape was no where to be seen. She looked down at her wristwatch and found that she was two minutes early. She sighed and took a seat on one of the stools. She felt very tired. It had been a very long day. After detention she still had to return to her dorm to pack her things. After all she would be unable to in the morning for she had another detention with him in the morning.  
  
At that moment she heard someone sweep into the classroom and walk up to the desk. It was abviously Snape. He was the only person that wold come down to the dungeons during the end of term feast and he was the only person whosr robes made the swish noise while walking. He walked over to his desk and started to look through a pile of papers on his desk. "Bloody Potter," he muttered under his breath. Luna surpressed the urge to giggle.  
  
What has Harry done now, she wondered to herself as she watched Snape continue looking through the pile of papers on his desk. She than saw him sit down and grab a quill from his desk. He began to write in a furious pace. After a couple of seconds he set the quill down and sat back. He read through what he wrote and when he was done he stood up. Luna wondered what the Professor was up to. She wondered if he'd finally gone batty. She than saw Snape look at his watch. "Where is Lovegood? Late again?" he muttered aloud to himself.  
  
"You know professor," Luna said causing him to look at her. "Most people don't thinks it's sane to talk to yourself."  
  
"Than I assume you talk to yourself quite often, especially if you earned yourself the nickname Loony Lovegood," he snapped.  
  
"And how did you earn the nickname Snivellus? I think I'd be very interested in that story," she said as she looked at him. He visibly paled and his eyes became ominous.  
  
"Where did you get that from?" Snape asked though grited teeth.  
  
"Tonks and professor Lupin. Tonks had asked him the same question I asked you. Professor Lupin hadn't responded," she responded. Snape noded ever so slightly.  
  
"Well that is none of your business. Go run this up to Potter," he said holding out the parchment to her. She got off the stool and walked over to him. As she stood before him she finally reaslized how tall Snape was. He was still almost a full foot taller than her and he was rather large compared to her smal feminine frame. She felt tiny standing before him. She grabbed the piece of parchment from his hand. "When you are done I want you back down here. I'm going to have you clean the entire classroom manually."  
  
She sighed and turned on her heel. She made her way down the hall and up the stairs. She made her way to the Great Hall and walked in. She found Harry seated at his usual spot at the Griffindor table, with Hermione at his side and Ron sitting across from him. Luna walked over to them and stopped behind Harry. "Is your Detention over?" asked Hermione.  
  
"No, Snape just wanted me to give you this," she said to Harry handing him the piece of parchment.  
  
"What is that?" asked Ron.  
  
"Me and Snape made a bet. He lost, and this is my reward," Harry responded. "It's a recomendation that I need in order to start my auror training."  
  
"What was the bet?" Ginny asked.  
  
"I can't say. I gave my word as a Griffindor that I would not tell a soul," he responded. He than turned to Luna. "What is he making you do?"  
  
"I have to clean the entire classroom the muggle way," she responded.  
  
"That sucks," Ron and Harry said together.  
  
"Yeah, but I can't do nothing about it. Well I have to go before Snape gets mad at me for taking so long bringing you that," she said. She waved and turned on her heel. All the while thinking of the bet that Snape and Harry made. She wondered what in the world they had bet on. Even more so she wondered when and where had they made the bet.  
  
As she entered the classroom she found Filch inside the classroom talking to Snape. When she walked in both Snape and Filch turned to look at her. "Filch has brough what you need to clean the classroom. You have a bucket of water, soap, a clothe, a broom and a mop. I suggest you get to work if you want to get through before eight," Snape said coldly. He than made his way to his desk. Filch than turned around and walked out of the clasroom.  
  
Luna sighed and got to work. At eigh forty she was done with her chore and she made her way up to his desk. "I'm done Professor Snape," she said tiredly as she stood before him. He had looked up and was now looking about the classroom. "Can I go now?" Snape noded and she turned on her heel. She made her way through the hallways and to the Ravenclaw common room. When she got to her dorm she began to pack her things and when she was through she dropped on her bed and fell asleep.  
  
The next morning she awoke and put the remaining things in her trunk. She than made her way down to the dungeons. As she walked in she noted the rag on a table near Professor Snapes private store. She walked up to his desk, where he sat as usual and stood before him. "You are to clean my private stores. Mind you that should you break anything you will pay," he said coldly without looking up at her.  
  
"Yes Professor Snape," she said as she walked over to the desk and picked up the rag. She than opened and started to clean. After half an hour of cleaning in a grave silence Professor Snape finally said something.  
  
"What are you doing this summer Miss Lovegood?" he suddenly asked. She turned to look at him, puzzled by his question. "I'm curious," he said sharply as he met her gaze.  
  
"Well I'll be in Romania with Ginny and Ron for the first two weeks than I'll be going home," she responded.  
  
"Romania?" Snape asked with a raised brow.  
  
"We'll be visiting Charlie Weasley," she responded. Snape grimaced.  
  
"Charlie Weasley?"  
  
"Did you know him?"  
  
"Unfortunately, yes," he responded. "I knew Bill as well. Bill was a second year when I started teaching here. When Bill went into his third year, Charlie became a first year. An unpleasent pair once put together. The first Weasleys I had the ...... Pleasure, teaching."  
  
"Oh," she said. "What of you Professor? Do the teacherse stay here all year long or do you go home too?"  
  
"We go home," he responded curtly. She noded and turned back to what she had been doing. She found it very strange that the professor had asked her about her plans for this summer. It was quite strange indeed. A full hour and a half later she was through with cleaning his private stores. She walked up to his desk.  
  
"I'm done," she said as she stood before his desk. He looked up and noded. He looked at his watch and he could see that it was eleven.  
  
"You can go," he said. She smiled and whirled about making her way out the classroom. "Miss Lovegood," she heard him call out as she reached the door. She stopped walking and turned around. "Have a good summer," he said to her. There was nothing cold or even cool in his voice. No tint of sarcasm or snideness.  
  
"I hope you have a good summer as well professor Snape," she said with a smile. "I'll see you next year." She than turned around and walked out.  
  
TBC........  
  
A/N: I'm sorry if I have not updated in a long time. I have to do it when I have time in school. Anyway please Review. 


	3. Part III

PART III ~~~~~~  
  
"Well Luna what do you think?" Ginny asked as she sat down on the bed next to her. Luna looked around the room that she had to share with Ginny. The room looked small, but that was pobably because of the large four poster in the center of the room. Charlie's house was pretty much one storie. There where two bedrooms, one washroom, the kitchen and a living room. That meant that Charlie and Ron would have to share a room and Ginny and Luna had to share a room.  
  
"It's a nice house," Luna said politely. Ginny rolled her eyes as she turned to look at her.  
  
"I'm not talking about the house, I'm talking about my brother," Ginny said.  
  
"What about him?" Luna asked as she turned to look at her friend.  
  
"What do you think about him?" Ginny asked almost exasperatedly.  
  
"He seems like a nice guy," Luna said with a shrug. "I didn't expect him to have shoulder length hair though."  
  
"He didn't, he grew it out recently. Last time I saw him he didn't have his hair that long," Ginny said. Luna merely noded. She found that Charlie Weasley was a kind, charming person and he was also quite handsome. She found herself wondering why Ron hadn't turned out like him. In the whole time that she had known Ron she had only ever known him to have had something with one person and that was with Paty Patil. And even than Paty had not been happy.  
  
"Do you like the color maroon Ginny?" Luna suddenly asked. Luna was wondering because it seemed to her that alot of Ginny's clothes was maroon. She noticed that Ginny looked down at her maroon pants and white shirt and than look at Luna.  
  
"Not really," she responded as she looked at her friend. Than she looked at what she was wearing. Luna was wearing a white shirt and a light blue skirt.  
  
"Is you're favorite color Blue?" Ginny asked. Luna shook her head.  
  
"No, actually my favorite color is green, but I don't like wearing it," Luna responded. Ginny furrowed her brows.  
  
"I didn't know your favorite color was green," she said. "That's Charlie and Percy's favorite color."  
  
"That's interesting," Luna said as she looked around the room at the time. She was wondering why Ginny had asked what she thought about Charlie. It was an odd question. She than turned to Ginny and noted that Ginny was watching her intently. "Yes?" she asked. Ginny shook her head and than stood up. She walked over to the door, but before she reached it Luna called out her name. "Hey Ginny, Why did you ask what I thought of Charlie?" she asked as she met her friends dark eyes.  
  
"Well I think that you and Charlie have alot in common," Ginny said with a shrug as she looked at her friends brown, dough eyes. "You should spend time with him, he's really great and I'm sure that you guys will have a great time together." Ginny said. She than continued to study her friends reaction. She was dissapointed to see that Luna was completely detached from all emotions and looked calm and collected.  
  
"And why do you think that we should spend time with each other?" Luna asked as she kept all emotions out of her voice. Her voice was indifferent and unwavering. Ginny seemed to stand there and merely stare at her friend. Luna soon found herself wondering what her friend was thinking about.  
  
"Perhaps Chalie is just what you need at the moment," Ginny responded. Luna's right eyesbrow rose and Ginny suddenly smiled. "I think you have spent far too much time with Professor Snape," She said as she looked at her. Luna smiled and shook her head, looking down at her hands. "Well I think that I'm going to go find Charlie to catch up with him. What will you be doing?"  
  
"I guess that I will just read a book," Luna responded as she looked at her. "And I don't think that Professor Snape has rubbed off on me." Luna said as she looked at her friend. Her friend merely looked at her for a couple of seconds, a smile of disbeliefe on her face.  
  
"/Sure/ he didn't," She said. This caused Luna to roll her eyes at her friend. "I'll see you in a little while Luna," Ginny said as she bounced out of the room. Luna shook her head in amusement and walked over to her trunk. She took out a book from her trunk and than walked over to the bed. She crawled on the bed over to the head board and than sat down and took the book in her hand.  
  
Before she began to read she looked up and she could see Charlie Weasley standing in the doorway. She looked up at him and could see that he had a broad grin on his face as he stared at her. As she met his eyes as he stepped forward into the room. "I see that you like to read."  
  
"Yes I do," she responded offering him a weak smile in return to his broad grin. "Do you like to read?" she asked as she looked at him. He smiled and shook his head.  
  
"I don't read unless it's necessaary. The only other person I know that reads for pleasure is Hermione. You remind me of her," He said. At this statement Luna frowned and looked down at the book in her lap. "Did I say something wrong?" he asked, she could hear a tinge of guilt and concern in his voice. She looked up at him.  
  
"I don't like it when people tell me that I remind them of Hermione," She responded. He frowned slightly at this.  
  
"And what is wrong with Hermione?" he asked.  
  
"Nothing," she responded. "But I am my own person and very different from Hermione. Our desire to learn and our appearence might be slithgly similar, but we are very different. She's uptight, I'm wild. She abides by the rules, I set my own. She's completely intact with her emotions, feeling each of them to the fullest, I am very detached from them. She spends her days with her head in her studies and I spend them with my head in the clouds. I don't like it when people judge by the exterior."  
  
"Well I'm glad that you are very different from Hermione and that you are your own person," he said with a smile on his face. She wondered what he was smiling about, but she didn't question it. After all there was nothing wrong with being friedly, although, she wondered if perhaps he was over friendly.  
  
"Really? Well did you come in here for a particular reason?" She asked lightly as she looked up at him. He suddenly seemed to remember that he /had/ come into the room for a reason.  
  
"I'm looking for Ginny. Do you know where she has run off to?" he asked.  
  
"She was looking for you," she responded. "How is it that you could miss her. She had barely walked out of the room, when you walked in."  
  
"I just popped in," he responded. Luna noded. "I'll see you later Luna," he said as he turned around and walked out of the room. Luna shook her head and went back to her reading. She wondered how long Charlie had been standing at the doorway. And she wondered if he indeed had just 'popped' in why hadn't she heard the POP.  
  
"Hello Luna," Ron said as he walked in and plopped down on the foot of the bed. She looked up and could see Ron sitting there staring at her.  
  
"Hello Ron," She said as she looked at him.  
  
"What are you reading?" he asked as he looked at her.  
  
"A book on ancient Charms," she responded as she looked at him. A sudden question formed in her head and she looked at Ron for a couple of seconds. "Ron, Did Charlie step out at all?" she asked as she looked at him.  
  
"No Charlie's been here the whole time. We've spent all day together catching up. He seemed to ask alot of question about you," he responded as he looked at Luna. Luna wondered why Charlie had lied to her and wondered why he asked alot of quesions about her.  
  
"What kind of questions did he ask about me?" she asked him.  
  
"He asked how long I knew you, how long Ginny knew you, what house you are in, how old you are, how you do in school and things like that," Ron responded with a shrug. "He never really took in interest in people like that before. He never asked question about Harry or Hermione like that. I think he merely found you very interesting."  
  
"Do you know why he has with me?" She asked as she looked at Ron. Ron shrugged at her question.  
  
"Percy had told Charlie about you. He told him that when he met you that you where very eccentric and he told him about your nickname. Charlie takes an interest on those who are different," Ron responded. Luna looked back on her memory and remembered the day she had met Percy. She had been a first year and he had been a sixth year. She had said something very strange to him.  
  
"Are you all right Ron?" she asked as she looked at him. Ron looked down at his hands and Luna noted that he had a folded piece of parchment in his hands. He looked up at Luna, Luna could see concern in his eyes.  
  
"Hey Luna I know that you don't consider me a friend, but... I wanted to ask you if you're okay," He said slowly.  
  
"What do you mean?" Luna asked as she studied Ron intently.  
  
"I mean I know that you really liked Harry and I think you still like him alot. I know that he hurt you, even if he never really meant to, and I was wondering how you where doing," Ron responded. Every word came out very carefully. He seemed t actually be thinking of what he was saying than just blurting out anything like he usually did.  
  
"Well Ron, thank you for your concern, but I'm doing fine," she responded. Ron seemed to study her for a couple of seconds. He merely stared at her as if wondering wether she was lying or not. Luna wasn't lying, much. There was some truth to what she said. She wasn't doing to well, but it was a step up from where she had started from. She still felt slight pain and remorse and always wondered what would have happened if he would have chosen her, but she always pushed the feelings aside.  
  
"Well," Ron said standing up. "This is from Harry," he said handing her the note. She took it in her hand and looked at it quizzically. She wondered what Harry was writing to her for. She looked up to see that Ron was staring at her with a very concerned look on his face. "I guess I'll leave you now," he said and walked out of the room. Luna could do nothing but stare after him, lost in thoughts.  
  
She had many questions. She wondered why Charlie was so interested in her and why he was so friendly. She wondered what Ginny wanted from her and Charlie. She wondered if Ginny had invited her to spend time with Charlie rather instead wih her. Another thing that she had on her mind was Ron. Since when was he so concerned about her and since when was he able to put his thoughts into words without mucking things up? The last question in her mind was one that she could answer, why was Harry writing to her?  
  
She unfolded the note that she had in her hand. It was certainly Harry's writing and there seemed to be quite a bit to read. She wondered why he was writing to her and why he hadn't sent it to her personally.  
  
'Luna I am going to make this as quick as I possibly can and try to chose the best words for what I am about to say. I am sure that I have told you before that I am sorry about how much I hurt you. I hadn't intended for this to happen. And I'm sorry that I did not have the nerve enough to tell you myself that I was dating Hermione. You shouldn't have found out the way you did. But there is someone out there that I know of that has very strong feelings for you. I cannot tell you who, but I just wanted to let you know that there are people to whom you are the very best for. I'm sorry that I could not return your feelings I don't think that I can stress how sorry I am.  
  
There is one thing more that I feel it is my obligation to tell you. Please believe that I do not wish to inflict anymore pain on you, but I have to tell you. I don't wish you to find out any other way. I think if you found this out any other way it would perhaps hurt you more. And I know that you deserve to find out through me. I owe that much to you. I don't know quite how to tell you this, but last night... last night I asked Hermione to be my fiance'. She accepted. I'm very sorry if I hurt you. Trust, I mean you know harm. I just thought that you would want to know.'  
  
Luna looked up from the letter and she could feel tears welling up in her eyes. She folded the note up. She brought her knees up to her chest and she hugged them. She placed her head on her arms and breathed in deeply, willing the tears to go away. But she could not hold the dam. Tears rolled down her face and she rocked herself back and forth. She wondered how it was that everytime she managed to make herself feel perfectly fine, he always managed to break her down. Well at least this time I didn't have an asthma attack, she thought to herself as the tears continued.  
  
TBC.....  
  
A/N: Well? What do you think? I'm sorry if there are any spelling errors. I rushed through the editing so that I could post it A. S. A. P. Please Review! They make me want to continue writing. 


	4. Part IV

**A/N:** The reason that I put it under the Harry/Luna category is that it might just become that in later chapters. I dunno. You'll have to read and see if the story heads that way. But if it does it shall only be for a short amount of time.  
  
**PART IV   
**  
"Luna are you all right?" asked Ginny as she stepped into the room and saw her friend sitting down crying. Luna looked up at Ginny through teary eyes and wiped her tears away. Ginny walked over to her friend and sat down on the bed beside her. Luna wiped her tear streaked face and looked at Ginny. "What happened?" she asked. Luna took a deep breath and tried to still her voice.  
  
"I've recieved the news. Is this the reason that you brought me away to Romania? You didn't want me to find it out?" Luna asked as steadily as possible. Ginny furrowed her brows.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Ginny asked. Luna handed her the note that she had in her hand and handed it to Ginny. Ginny looked at the note suspiciously and took it in her hand. She skimmed the note quickly and soon looked up at her dirty blonde friend. "Luna I'm so sorry. I had no Idea. I swear to you that I didn't know." Ginny said looking at her friends in surprise. Luna took in a deep breath and put her chin to rest on her arms.  
  
"You know it is hard to believe that this effects me so. It should no longer hurt so much," Luna said as she looked into her friends eyes. Ginny looked at her friends with sympathy and placed a stray strand of her hair behind her ear.  
  
"Well Luna I think that you deserve someone who will return your feelings. If it is not Harry than that means that he is unworthy of your feelings, unworthy of your tears," Ginny said. Luna smiled at her friend.  
  
"Ginny you are a very good friend," Luna said. Ginny smiled broadly and enveloped her friend in a hug.  
  
"Well that's what friends are for," Ginny said as she pulled away and looked into her friends eyes. "So it's time for dinner." Ginny said. Luna noded and stood up. She wasn't really hungry, the news from Harry had somehow managed to chase her hunger away. But she thought that it was probably rude to not join them in dinner.  
  
Together they walked out of the room and made their way into the kitchen. There was a square table in the middle set for four. Ron was already sitting down at the table. Ginny sat down next to her brother and Luna sat next to Ginny. Charlie was finishing the food and putting it on the table. He than took his seat in between Luna and Ron.  
  
Over the next half hour Luna merely poked at her food. She really didn't pay any attention to the conversation that went on around the table. She was aware of one thing and only one thing. A certain pair of eyes fell on her constantly and when they where on her she could feel them boring through her soul. She didn't care to see whom it was that was staring at her so intently and so frequently. All she wanted to do was go o bed and never get up again.  
  
"Luna are you okay?" Ron suddenly asked. Luna looked up to see Ron staring at her with concern in his eyes.  
  
"Yes I'm fine," Luna said.  
  
"You haven't touched a thing," Ron said.  
  
"I'm not all that hungry. May I be excused?" she said. Everyone noded and she stood up and walked out of the room. She sighed and made her way to her room. All the while she drowned out the hushed voices speaking in the kitchen. She didn't even realize that she had already walked into the room, closed the door behind her and curled up on the bed. Her mind was blank. There where not thoughts runing through her head. There was just this strange emptiness and numbness.  
  
The door soon began to open and she turned her gaze in the door's direction. She expected that it was Ginny coming in to check on her, but she soon realized that it wasn't Ginny. It was the least expected person to come in. Charlie Weasley poked his head inside. "May I come in?" he asked. She merely noded in response and he walked inside, closing the door behind him. He walked over to the bed and sat on the edge of it. "Are you all right?" he asked as he walked over.  
  
"Not really," she responded.  
  
"Is it Harry?" he asked. She merely noded. She didn't want to bother with asking how he knew. She figured that either Ginny or Ron had told him about it. "Yeah Ron told me about that," he said as he looked at her. "Why does it hurt you so that he's with Hermione? Why did you fall in love with Harry?" he asked.  
  
"Harry was the first person who really understood me," she responded as she sat up to look at Charlie. As she sat before him, her face was about two feet away from his. They where sitting in very close proximity. "I mean the first time we met, I know that he judged me like everyone else and I know that he grew to think of me as 'Loony' Lovegood, but it changed. We became very close. I told him things that I have never told anyone before, I was the one that was there with him throughout the whole Sirius Black tragedy. I was the one that he ran to, that he let out his frustrations on. I just don't understand why he chose her," she said as her eyes started to tear up. "I know Hermione is a great person, but what did he see in her that he didn't see in me?" she asked as a tear escaped from her right eye.  
  
"Well I wouldn't know how to answer your questions Luna. I've met Hermione and I know that she is smart, brave, loyal and courageous, but those are all things that I can see in you. You are as pretty as she and I'm sure that you'r as capable at anything that you set your mind to as she is. I really don't know why Harry would pick Hermione. Perhaps it's because they have known each other longer, maybe he needs structure in his life. If you ask me, you seem very unpredictable for Harry and I don't really think that's what he needs. Harry needs someone like Hermione, someone to set down rules and make him bahave rationally," Charlie said. Luna thought about what he said. She found that what he was saying made alot of sense. "Luna, you're meant for someone else and you will just have to move on."  
  
"Easier said than done," Luna suddenly said as she wiped away a tear from her eye. She knew very well that that was easier siad than done. She had tried to move on, but it simply wasn't quite working out very well.  
  
"Yes I know that it is easier said than done, but if you're determined to do it, than you can. Also you will need a positive attitude I think that it would be best for you to be away from Hermione and Harry until you have moved on. It would be the best for you and it will make things much easier for you to handle," Charlie said as he looked at her. She noded, she knew that he was right.  
  
"You should become a therapist or something of the sort. You're good at giving advice," Luna comented as she looked at Charlie. He smiled at her and stood up.  
  
"Yes well when you grow up with alot of younger brothers and sisters who come to you for advise, this is what happens to you. Even Bill comes to me for advice and he's older than I am," Charlie said with a smile as he joked. Luna smiled at him. "So are you going to stay in here, or do you want to try and eat?" Luna shook her head.  
  
"I'm tired and I'm not very hungry," she responded as she looked up at him. He noded in response and walked over to the door. When he reached the door, he layed a hand on the knob, and he turned around to look at her and smiled at her.  
  
"You know Luna, if I had to pick between you and Hermione, I would pick you," he said. She noded in response and looked at him intently. He was not smiling. His eyes where twinkling and there was a sincere expression on his face. The way he looked at her made her realize that he was not lying when he said that he would pick her. She blushed and looked down. "I hope you have a good night Luna," he said as he turned the door knob and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.  
  
Luna stared at the door for a couple of seconds. She had that image of Charlie burned into her inner vision and his words kept running through her head. It seemed very clear that he was attracted to her, but it was strange. There was, of course, no denying how handsome he was and no denying what a great person he was, but he was her best friend's older brother. And a full ten years older than her. It was much too surreal. She wondered if perhaps it was just her imagination.  
  
She got out of bed and headed over to her trunk at the foot of the bed. She picked out something to wear. She brought out short black shorts and a white tank top. This was what she usually slept in, in the summer. She quickly changed and walked over to the bed. She pulled down the covers, trying to push the thought of Charlie liking her out of her head. She told herself that he was just being nice and wanted to make her feel better about herself. She sat down on the bed and pulled the sheet and cover over her legs.  
  
She sighed and layed down. She thought that sleep would perhaps not come on this night, but she soon fell asleep. As she slept she began to dream of a place far away. And of person that it seemed that she would never miss, but would never forget either. She dreamt of the dark dungeons of Hogwarts castle and the dark Potions Master who always seemed to love to spend his time down there. As if a prisoner of his own loneliness. As though he where still guilty for his days as a Death Eater, even if he had already payed his price.  
  
She walked down to the Dungeons and she found him sitting behind his desk, like always. But she merely stood in the doorway, watching the Potions Master as he worked. Despite the fact that she knew him to be a cruel person, she couldn't help but wonder if there was perhaps more to him than just that. When she was a first year, she believed that there was more to him than just sarcasm and black, but as she grew that belief began to fade. But she knew that there must be more than what you see. There was something that she could tell was within him, but she did not know what it was.  
  
At that moment she felt someone rush past her and walk up to his desk. She could tell, by looking at the back of the persons head, that it was Harry Potter who had just walked into the Dungeon. She watched him intently as he made his way to Snape's desk. Snape had noticed the presence of Harry and had looked up as he had walked in. As Luna watched, she could see them talking to each other, yet she could not hear a word that was said. It felt like she was in one of those old movies where everything is in Black and White and you can't hear a thing. The only differences was that she was not in a movie and ther other was that she could see color.  
  
She watched the scene and wondered what the hell was happening. All of a sudden she sat up in bed and looked to her left. Ginny was sound asleep next to her. She looked at the closest watch and she could see that it was three in the morning. She sighed and got out of bed. She felt warm and she was rather thirsty. Above all she couldn't get that dream out of her head. She didn't understand why she would dream of something like that.  
  
She walked out of the room barefoot and made her way silently towards the kitchen. When she walked into the kitchen she could see someone tall already standing in front of the sink, their back facing her. She figured that it was Charlie, since it could not be Ginny and since Ron wasn't quite as tall and his build was smaller. The kitchen was lit by the eery blue light of the moon. It wasn't much, but enough for her to be able to see him clearly.  
  
Charlie turned around as he heard her step into the kitchen. He was wearing shorts with a big baggy shirt on. She noticed that he merely stood there, staring at her for a couple of seconds. He seemed to be momentarily stupefied. After staring at her a couple of seconds, he seemed to shake himself out of it. "Umm... Hey Luna. What are you doing up so late?" he asked as he looked at her.  
  
"I couldn't sleep and I was thirsty," she responded. Charlie merely noded.  
  
"Yeah I was thirsty too," he reseponded as he turned back to the sink. He grabbed a glass and filled it with water. He than turend around and held out the glass of water for her. "So how come you couldn't sleep? Bad dreams?" he asked as she walked over to him and grabbed the drink from his hand.  
  
"Thanks," she said as she took it. He noded as she took a sip of water. She than looked up as him and noticed that he was studying her with much interest. "Umm, I dreamt of Professor Snape and Harry," she responded. One of Charlies' eyesbrows went up.  
  
"Yeah I could see why you couldn't sleep. Any dream with Snape in it is unpleasent," he responded as a smile slipped over his face.  
  
"He's not that bad. Sure he's grouchy and mean most of the time, but it's not that bad," she said.  
  
"Yes well you where a Ravenclaw, not a Griffindor," Charlie said pointedly.  
  
"That's true," she responded. "But he's not the reason that I could not sleep. The thing is that they where talking about something and I don't know what it was. You could see their mouths moving, but no sound was coming out of them."  
  
"It's just a dream Luna. You shouldn't think on it too much," Charlie said as he leaned against the sink.  
  
"Maybe you're right," Luna said with a shrug. "What about you? Why couldn't you sleep?'' she asked as she looked at him.  
  
**A/N:** Well that's it for now. I'm sorry that I took so long to update and I apologise for any spelling errors. I sped through the editting so that I could post the story as soon as possible. Please Review! 


	5. Part V

**A/N:** I'm sorry that it took so long for me to update. I have just been busy as of late, but since the summer is about to begin I might be able to update more often. It all depends on my grades and whether I'm allowed to go out or not this summer. I hope that you like this chapter and I hope that you review. Please Review.  
  
**Second Best Part V**  
  
"I really don't know. I usually sleep just fine, I just can't tonight," he responded as he looked at her. She merely nodded in response. She had no idea what to say to him. There was really nothing that she could think of to say to that. She felt that somehow that the reason that he couldn't sleep was because that they're where more people at his house. She thought that he was perhaps so use to being alone that to have guest over was strange. "What are you doing this summer?" he asked as he looked at her.  
  
"Well after my week here I'll be at home for the rest of the summer," she responded as she looked at him. "I won't be doing much I guess. What about you?" she asked as she looked at him.  
  
"Well I'll be working, I only have about two weeks off for a summer break," he responded as he looked at her. She nodded in response. "Well I really think that we should probably be getting back to sleep," he said as he looked at her. She nodded once again and turned around.  
  
"Goodnight Charlie. See you tomorrow in the morning," she said as she made her way to the room. She heard him very faintly tell her goodnight and soon walked into the room. She walked in and closed the door behind her. She made her way to the bed and lay down. She was soon asleep.  
  
The next morning she woke up with Ginny and they both changed out of their clothes. They walked into the kitchen and sat down to eat breakfast. Charlie was up and cooking and he had the table all set. "Good morning sleepy heads," he said as he turned to look at them. He served them food and soon sat down with them. Neither of the girls responded, they where both feeling a little groggy.  
  
"What are we doing today?" Ron asked as he looked at Charlie. Charlie looked up at his brother from his food. Luna and Ginny where both sitting and eating in silence. Ginny looked like she was about to fall asleep on her breakfast. Luna wondered what she was so tired about. She had seemed to gotten a good night sleep. Or at least she slept better than she did. That was for sure.  
  
"I thought that perhaps we would take a walk through the forest. Do you guys want to do that?" Charlie asked as he turned to look at everyone. Everyone merely nodded. No one really seemed to be in a talking mood. Luna herself could not see how Charlie Weasley could be so awake so early in the morning. Especially if he said that he could not sleep the night before. She wondered how could he possibly have gotten up early and made breakfast. She wondered if perhaps he was always this happy.  
  
"What are we going to do, just walk around all day? How fascinating can that possibly be?" Ginny suddenly asked. Luna knew that this was how Ginny could be in the morning. If she did not sleep well she could be very grouchy. This was something that Luna had to put up with often, but she never really mined. She never allowed Ginny's grouchiness to get to her. After all why should she? It's not as if Ginny was mad at her. And clearly this was something that Charlie knew as well for he did not seem at all fazed by her question.  
  
"Yes," he responded cheerfully. "We'll set out in about an hour or so," he said as he looked at them. They all nodded and continued to eat in silence. "You guys seem much to tired. What didn't any of you guys get any sleep last night?" he asked as he looked around the table.  
  
"I slept fine," Ron responded and he shoved a piece of toast in his mouth. Ginny and Luna where the only two that apparently didn't sleep well. Ginny looked like she was going to murder someone and Luna just looked plain tired. Charlie turned to look at the two girls.  
  
"I find the bed is too soft. It's really not something that I'm used to," Ginny said as she looked at her brother. Charlie than turned to Luna  
  
"I just couldn't sleep," she said with a shrug.  
  
"Would you guys like to change rooms with me and Ron?" he asked as he looked at the two girls.  
  
"Or better yet you could just put a charm on the bed so that it would be better to Ginny's liking," Luna said as she turned her attention to Charlie.  
  
"I believe that this is perhaps the reason that you are a Ravenclaw," Charlie commented. Luna blushed lightly at this. Everyone knew that Luna wasn't that used to being complemented and, though, she was brought up in a rich family she was very humble. It was something that came naturally to her. It was perhaps something that she got from her mother as well.  
  
"Thanks," she said as she turned to look at her friend. "Come one Gin, will go charm the bed," she said as she stood up and excused herself. Ginny got up and together the two of them walked out the kitchen and into the room. Luna walked over to her trunk and took out her wand. She told Ginny to lie on the bed and she pointed her wand at the bed. "Tell me when it's the most comfortable," Ginny instructed. Ginny nodded and Luna pointed her wand at the bed. She whispered the charm under her breath and the bed lit up slightly. After a couple of seconds Ginny told her to stop and Luna lowered her wand.  
  
"Thanks," Ginny said as she stood up. Luna shrugged and put away her wand. "Sorry for being so grouchy this morning." Ginny apologized.  
  
"It's fine, you know that it is something that I'm used to," she said as she looked at her friend. Ginny merely nodded and together they walked out of the room.  
  
"We're leaving now, Charlie is outside," Ron said as he walked past them and walked towards the front door. Luna and Ginny both nodded and walked out after him. When they where outside they realized that not only Charlie and Ron stood there but other people as well. Luna spotted Tonks, Remus, Bill, Fred, George, Harry and Hermione. She wondered why all of these people where there and she wondered if they would all be taking this walk together. Clearly, by the look on Ginny's face, she didn't know that all these other people where coming along as well.  
  
"Hello Luna!" Tonks said cheerfully. Luna merely smiled, a very half- hearted smile, but than again you couldn't blame her. She was hoping that it would be a Harry free summer, so that she could over the whole situation, but look at him. There he was. And there she was for that matter. It was just simply a very vexing and depressing thing to see. She turned to look at Remus, Bill, Fred, George and Charlie and she could see sympathy written all over their faces. _Does everyone know? How embarrassing!_ She thought as she looked at them. She could feel her face becoming warm as she felt that everyone was staring at her.  
  
"Lets get going," Charlie suddenly said. Everyone turned around and started to walk through the forest, following Charlie. Luna walked behind the entire crowd accompanied by Ginny.  
  
"Luna are you okay, I mean you look at bit pale. Gees that must have been embarrassing!" Ginny said in a hushed town so that those in front of her would not hear her. She turned to look at Luna who was walking with her head down. She wanted to crawl down a hole.  
  
"How do things like this happen to me? What have I ever done to deserve this?" she asked as she turned to look at her friend. She looked at the crowd before her and she could spot Charlie all the way in the front talking to Bill. Behind him was Ron, Fred and George who where clowning around. Behind them was Hermione and Harry who where walking hand in hand. Walking ahead of her and Ginny she could see Tonks and Remus. She had always thought that they would make a cute couple someday and she was happy that 'someday' had finally changed to 'today'.  
  
"I don't know," Ginny said as she walked along side her best friend. They soon stopped and found that they where in a clearing by a river. The sun was shining down on the river and it made it sparkle beautifully. It made the bottom of the river sparkle, as if there where diamonds down there. Remus and Tonks made their way, away from the group and towards the river on the far left. They wanted to be alone. Luna watched as the sat down on the grass and faced each other. They where both smiling happily and their eyes where sparkling.  
  
"Don't you just wish you had a relationship like theirs?" Luna asked as she motioned towards Remus and Tonks. Ginny turned to look at them. Remus was currently tucking a strand of mousy brown hair behind Tonks' ear. Ginny merely nodded for they where indeed the cutest couple she had seen and by far the most in love.  
  
"They truly deserve each other," Ginny commented as she turned to look back at Luna. Luna looked around to see what everyone else was doing. She spotted Ron, Hermione and Harry sitting together, merely talking. Fred, George, Bill and Charlie all seemed to be wrestling or something. It seemed like it was the twins versus the older Weasley boys. Luna smiled as she watched Charlie put Fred, or maybe it was George in a headlock.  
  
"Are they always like that?" she asked. Ginny turned to look where her friend was looking at and smiled.  
  
"Oh yeah. They seem to enjoy themselves, something that I have never understood. Of course Percy never took part in those games and neither did Ron. Percy because he was always reading and Ron because, well I think that he merely didn't want to get hurt," Ginny said with a shrug. She loved her brother very much, but she had to admit that they all acted like three-year- old boys.  
  
All of a sudden the four boys stopped playing and they all turned to look at their little sister. "What are they doing?" Luna asked as she realized that they where looking at them and whispering behind their hands. Ginny too was staring at them with a suspicious gaze.  
  
"I don't know, but this can't be good," she responded as she continued to look at her brothers. All of a sudden all four boys got up and ran towards the girls. Bill and Charlie both grabbed Ginny and picked her up. "What are you doing?" Ginny asked as she began to thrash about as they grabbed her. From how loud she said it Luna noticed that everyone was now looking at them. At that moment Fred and George both grabbed Luna and picked her up. Luna began to thrash about like Luna as well.  
  
"You girls look bored and hot," George or possibly Fred said with a mischievous smile. Luna soon noticed that the guys where carrying them towards the river.  
  
"Oh no, please stop," she said in a pleading voice, but the boys didn't stop. They continued to carry them towards the river and pretty soon they where all wet from head to toe. The water felt cold on her, but the fun made her feel warm. Luna opened her eyes and she could see the guys laughing. She could also see Remus and Tonks chuckling. She looked over and Harry and Hermione, Hermione was chuckling, Harry was merely smiling. Luna than turned to Ginny who was standing up in the water next to her and shaking herself of. Ginny than turned to her closest brother and tackled him into the water, and so it began, the water fight of the century.  
  
Luna walked over to Charlie and whispered that he should go get Ron as well. Charlie merely smiled impishly and walked over to Bill. Together they both got out of the river and went to retrieve the youngest Weasley male. Once they where back in the water: Ginny, Luna, Ron and Charlie began the war against the twins and Bill. After playing in the water for half an hour more, Luna decided that it was time to climb out of the river and try to dry herself off with the sun, for she had not brought her wand with her. He climbed out and walked over to a spot near a tree and she sat down. She was aware that from where she sat, Harry could see her perfectly and that she could see him, but she didn't care. She leaned against the tree and tried to squeeze the most amount of water possible from her hair, her black t- shirt and she didn't try to do anything about her blue jeans.  
  
She than looked up and she spotted Charlie getting out of the river. His dark blue jeans where all wet and his navy blue shirt was plastered to his body. He walked over to her and sat down next to her on her left. As he did so he took of the wet shirt and flung it on the floor. Luna realized that he had a six pack and very nicely formed chest. She could feel her cheeks grow warm and she looked away, meaning she looked to her right, where she was Harry staring at her.  
  
"Having fun?" Charlie asked. Luna turn back to look at him.  
  
"Yeah," she said with a smile.  
  
"I'm sorry about Harry and Hermione. I didn't know that they where going to come. I asked Bill, George and Fred to come, I didn't know that they where going to invited Harry and Hermione," he said apologetically as he looked down at his hands. He was now leaning against the tree. His hands where clasping each other In between his legs.  
  
"It's okay," Luna said as she looked at him. "It was slightly embarrassing but it's okay," she said. Charlie looked up at her and he offered her a small smile.  
  
"You know Luna, you're very beautiful," Charlie said as he looked at her. Luna blushed and looked down at her hands.  
  
"Thanks," she muttered.  
  
"It's true, you look like an angel. Especially when the sun falls on your hair. It makes you look like you have a halo around your head," Charlie said. Luna could feel her face grow warmer. She could not look up. All she could do was continue to look at her hands. Charlie gently grabbed her chin and tilted it up so that she would look at him. She looked into his eyes and she knew exactly what he was going to do and she could not move. Charlie moved in and placed a kiss on her lips. Charlie moved his lips against Luna's very softly, but she could feel the passion behind his kiss. When they pulled apart she felt shocked and she could feel her face growing warm.  
  
She momentarily looked away and she could see everybody staring at them wide eyed. Her face got even redder, if that was at all possible. She felt very much embarrassed. She had always hoped that her first kiss would be something magical something PRIVATE. But everyone had seen this and she felt someone humiliated. Especially since the guy whom kissed her was much older and her best friends older brother. She liked him a lot and she felt very honored that someone as good looking at he fancied her, but she didn't return his feelings. She merely saw him as her best friends older brother.  
  
**TBC...**


	6. Part VI

**A/N:** I'm extremely bored at the moment and I feel like writing the next chapter in my story. I'm sorry that I'm about to do this, but this is what I must do. Please Read and Review.  
  
**Part VI**  
  
Luna was once again lagging behind the group as they made their way up to Charlie's home. She walked with her head down. She was too embarrassed for what happened and she was sure that Charlie was feeling much worse than she was. He was walking somewhere up front with Bill and Tonks who where trying to get him to talk to them. Surely he felt embarrassed and stupid for what had happened. Ginny was currently walking with Hermione and Ron. Harry was currently talking to the twins. As for Lupin, he was merely walking along side her. She was well aware that he was looking at her. She knew that he wanted to talk to her, but she couldn't bear to look.  
  
After the kiss she was aware that everyone was staring. All she could do was turn back to Charlie and give him a sympathetic look. He immediately understood what she meant with the look and turned beat red and looked away. She had sent him the signal that she liked him, but not in that sense. And everyone around could see that. She was sure that he was probably mentally kicking himself for what he did. Also he was probably asking himself why she didn't like him.  
  
"Luna can I talk to you?" Remus suddenly asked. Luna merely nodded but she did not look up to see him. He than grabbed her by the arm and pulled her aside. Apparently he didn't wish anyone to hear the conversation. When Remus taught at Hogwarts, when she was a second year, he had been her favorite teacher. He had also been the only teacher to ever understand her. The first teacher to ever try and get to know her and they had grown close. He was someone that she could talk about anything to. "Will you please look up at me?" he asked.  
  
Luna slowly raised her eyes and looked into his amber eyes. As soon as her eyes clashed with him she could feel her cheeks begin to burn. She turned away and began to look around as he stared at her. She turned her attention to the group of people who where continuing to walk away. They hadn't so much as noticed that they weren't following them and they where getting farther from them by the seconds. "I don't think that we should stay behind. I wasn't paying attention on our way here so I don't know my way-" Luna started out, but he interrupted her.  
  
"I know how to get back Luna and you don't need to worry about that. But I know that something is bothering you. I know that it has to do with the kiss, but I would like you to tell me what's wrong. I know that you had strong feelings for Harry and that he hurt you by being with Hermione, but now there is more to it than that and I would like for you to tell me what that is," he said to her. She looked down at the floor again. She couldn't look at him.  
  
"I'm a private person and I always wanted my first kiss to be something spectacular. Not a show for about seven people," she said as she looked at the floor. She looked up at him and she could see him nodding in understanding.  
  
"I understand," he simply said.  
  
"And I know that Charlie is the perfect type of guy, but he's Ginny's older brother. He's my best friends older brother and I just think that is very strange. And on top of that I still have very strong feelings for Harry that simply won't go away," she said as she looked up at him. She truly felt miserable now. Not only did she feel embarrassed but also all the pain caused by Harry was now returning to her.  
  
"Luna you shouldn't do this to yourself," Remus said as he looked down at her.  
  
"What?" Luna asked as she looked up at him.  
  
"Why are you waiting for him? Why are you waiting for someone that clearly does not feeling the same way for you? I understand that you do not return Charlie's feelings, but you can't continue to do this to yourself. Harry has found his someone and if you continue to cling to something that doesn't belong to you, than your special someone will pass you by and you will never see. I know that it is hard to move on, but perhaps if you allow yourself to love, than perhaps you will be able to move on," Remus said as he looked into her eyes. Luna looked down at the floor. She knew that he was right, but things are always easier said than done. "Come on, we should return to the others," Remus said as he turned to walk up the path.  
  
Luna didn't really want to see the others again, but she had not choice. If she didn't go with Remus to the others, than she would never find her way back. She prayed that she wouldn't have to stay the entire week there. She found that it would be rather awkward now that she knew what he felt for her. She prayed with all her might that something would saver her, that by some miracle she wouldn't have to stay the remainder of the week with Charlie.  
  
She soon realized that they where getting close to Charlie's house. She turned to look at the ground and she began to feel her cheeks turning warm. She wondered when the hell had she become so damn bashful. She remembered that not so long ago she didn't care what people thought of her. She was never ashamed or embarrassed about what happened to her. She had changed so much since she stared to like Harry. She wished that she had never fallen for him, but she knew that it was ineffectual to wish.  
  
"You know I don't want to take Lovegood, it is an order from Dumbledore," she heard a male voice say in an irritated tone of voice. "Where is Lovegood anyway?" She looked up and she could see a group of people standing in front of Charlie's house. She could see Harry standing in front with Ron, Hermione, Fred and George behind him. She could spot Tonks, Bill and Charlie standing off to the side. In front of Harry stood the person who had just spoken, but she couldn't see whom it was. As she got neared she saw the figure wearing all black.  
  
"Why?" she saw Harry ask.  
  
"Potter I don't have to answer any of your questions, it is an order from Dumbledore that I must fulfill," she heard the male voice respond. She immediately recognized the voice when she heard him utter the name Potter. Only one person could say his name like that and that was Severus Snape. As Remus and herself approached the crowd she could feel everyone turn to look at her. She could see Charlie, who was currently staring at the ground. Harry looked angry; of course he usually was when Snape was around. As for Snape, he had an irritated expression on his face.  
  
"What's going on?" Luna asked as she felt her cheeks growing warm once more.  
  
"Snape wants to take you to his manor," Harry spat out as he gave Snape a dirty look. Luna wondered what the hell this was about. Why did Snape want to take her to his manor and why was Harry so angry about it.  
  
"Trust me Potter it isn't something that I want to do," Snape spat back as he looked at Harry. He than turned his attention to Luna. He walked over to her and handed her a piece of Parchment. She recognized the writing as soon as she saw it. It was Professor Dumbledore's writing.  
  
_Dear Miss Lovegood,  
  
I would like for you to go with Professor Snape. Though the war with Voldermort is over, some of his supporters are still at large and your father is someone that many of them are after. Don't worry about your father; he is in a safe house. As for yourself, I believe that you will be safe with Professor Snape. You're father is aware and has give permission to take you out of Charlie Weasley's home and place you in Professor Snape's home. Please take care.  
  
-Professor Dumbledore._  
  
Luna looked up and found that everyone was staring at her. Harry was looking at her wondering if she was going to go with Snape or not. She shrugged as she looked at him. "Dumbledore's orders," she said as she looked at him.  
  
"Finally, someone with some sense," Snape said as he looked at her. "You may go in and grab you're things, I will wait for you here." She nodded and walked into Charlie's house as soon as she could get away. She walked in and made her way to the guest room. She through her dirty clothes in the trunk and closed it. She soon heard footsteps walking toward the room and she prayed that it was not Charlie. But when she looked at the doorway it was precisely he.  
  
"Luna can I talk to you?" he asked as he looked at her. She could see his face begin to turn as red as his hair, but she knew that hers was probably doing the same exact thing. She merely nodded and sat on her trunk. He walked over and sat down next to her, which caused her to look down at her hands. "I'm sorry for what I did, but I don't regret what I did," he said. She looked up at him and she found that he was no longer blushing and that he was staring at her. "I have never experienced a kiss like that with anyone and that is why I don't regret it. I know that you don't feel for me what I feel for you, but I'm glad that you know what I feel for you. Now I will never wonder if you liked me or not. I will know. I'm just sorry for embarrassing you."  
  
"I'm sorry too, I'm sorry that I can't return your feelings. Charlie you are a great person and I just wish that I could return your feelings. I would be much better off if I could," she said as she looked into his eyes. He smiled half-heartedly at her and he stood up.  
  
"Want me to help you with your trunk?" He asked as he stood up. She nodded and stood up with him.  
  
"Thank you," she said as she looked into his eyes. "Thank you for showing me that I'm not second best to Hermione."  
  
"Anytime," he said as he looked at her.  
  
**TBC......**


	7. Part VII

**A/N:** I hope that this chapter lives up to the others' standards and I'm so sorry if I took long to update. I've been very confused lately about stuff going on.  
  
**Second Best: Part VII  
**  
Snape manor was everything that she would expect it to be. It was an old, large house, isolated from everything and everyone. There was darkness all over the house. Even during the say. All of the curtains where pulled closed so that there would be no sunlight in the house. The hallways where lit by very dim torchlights. But she could see that the walls where a bark green color, the color of pine trees.  
  
He led her through the halls and up a flight of stairs. He entered a hallway with about seven doors. There where three doors on each side and one all the way at the end of the hall. When he stopped in front of the first two doors and turned to look at her. "Do you prefer the sun in the morning of in the afternoon?" he asked as he stared down at her.  
  
"The morning," she said with a shrug as she looked at him. He nodded and turned away from her. He turned to the door on the left and opened it and he than motioned for Luna to step into the room. She walked past him and into the large room. There was a large four-poster in the middle of the room, with a navy blue comforter and had four pillows. Two pillows where Navy blue and the other two where black and seemed to be made of silk. There was a nightstand on each side of the bed and a door to the left of the bed. Luna guessed that the door led to a private washroom.  
  
"If you need anything," he started out saying and she turned to look at him as he spoke. "Snap your fingers and a house elf should appear. Meals are at all the normal times. You can choose to eat or not, as long as you don't starve yourself. I would also prefer that you don't bring any food up here. You may wander around as you wish, but do not enter any locked rooms and don't go down to the lab in the basement. Should you ever need anything my room is the one at the end of this hall. Also, your trunk shall be brought up by a house elf shortly," he than turned away and walked out of the room. Luna walked over to the bed and sat down.  
  
She soon touched the pillows and found that they where in fact made of silk. She pulled the comforter up a little to see the sheets. She soon saw that the sheets where black and where also made of silk. She wondered why he seemed to like silk so much. She loved the feel of silk against her skin, but she had never even thought of getting silk sheets. She stood up and walked over to the window. There where two windows, one on each side of the bed.  
  
She looked out into the darkening sky and sighed. She realized that this was perhaps going to be a very long summer. As she looked out the window she could see all the trees. Their where trees around for miles. She wondered why Snape lived in such a secluded area. Was he truly that much of a misanthrope that he lived in an isolated area. But she wondered if he was such a misanthrope why he would choose to become a Professor. At that moment there was a large thump, in which she turned around and looked at the elf that stood there.  
  
The elf looked like a normal house elf, but it had a black pillowcase on that didn't make him look quite so pathetic as Dobby. It's eyes where big and deep pools of emerald green. He looked at it and soon realized that her trunk was at the foot of the bed. "You may call me One," the house elf said with a small bow towards Luna. His tone of voice was very monotone, as if her where a very unhappy little elf.  
  
"One?" Luna asked as she looked at the house elf.  
  
"Master Snape does not bother himself with naming us," the house elf said in response. Luna nodded and soon noted that the Elf spoke in proper English. Leave it to Snape to not bother with naming House elves, but troubling himself with teaching them proper English. "Will you be eating dinner Miss Lovegood?" the elf said as it looked at her. She merely nodded in response. "Well please follow me," he said as he turned away and walked down the hall. Luna walked behind him and soon realized that in the entire time that he had talked to her he had spoken with no tone in his voice at all.  
  
"Umm, One," she said, feeling strange for calling it by a number.  
  
"Yes Miss Lovegood?" asked the House elf as it turned to look at her and stopped walking.  
  
"So you mind if I give you a name?" she asked as she looked down at it.  
  
"I don't mind at all," said the house elf as a cheerful tone crept into his voice. Luna smiled down at the house elf. She wondered what it was like to only have the company of Snape and other house elves. She wondered if all of Snape's house elves where this depressed and this eager to have someone else tell them what to do. She guessed that they weren't used to kindness.  
  
"Can I call you Turtle? I really like turtles," she said as she looked down at him. The elf smiled up and her and nodded it's head eagerly. He walked over to her and took her hand into his and walked her down the hall. Luna noticed that there was a happy little bounce in his step now and she smiled to herself. They walked down the stairs, down a hall and soon stood before to very large doors. He than let go of her hand and pulled the heavy door opened and motioned for her to walk in.  
  
It was a large dining room with a large rectangular table. It could seat at least fourteen people. There was space six seat on each side of the table and a person on each end, but there where only two seats at the table at the moment. The room was very dimly lit, which was something that Luna wasn't used to. Turtle walked past her to one side of the table and pulled the chair out. "Thank you," Luna said as she sat down in the seat. Turtle nodded and walked out and soon returned setting the table.  
  
Pretty soon the door at the other end of the room opened and Snape walked in and took his seat all the way on the other end of the table, sitting opposite of her. He did seem to notice that Luna was sitting on the other end of the table. He had many pieces of parchment in his hand and was concentrating pretty hard on them. Turtle than walked out of the room and walked back into the room with food and started putting it on both their plates, which also went by unnoticed by Snape. Snape than looked up and looked right at Luna, "You're eating?"  
  
"I haven't eaten anything all day," she said as she looked at him. He merely nodded and looked back at the pieces of parchment in his hand. Soon Turtle walked over to her end of the table and poured juice into her goblet. "Thank you Turtle," she said with a smile. Turtle nodded and walked out of the room. Luna turned to look at Snape who was staring at her with a raised eyebrow.  
  
"Turtle?" he asked.  
  
"Oh I named him that, I hope you don't mind. It's just that I found it strange to call it a number," she said as she looked at her professor.  
  
"I don't care, but Turtle?" he asked as he looked at her.  
  
"Better than One," she said as she looked at him. He just raised left brow and than turned back to the parchment in his hands. "Professor Snape may I ask you a question?" she asked. He looked up at her and raised a brow. "I'll take that as a yes. How is it that you won't waste your time on naming your House Elves, but you don't mind wasting time in teaching them proper English and proper manners?" she asked as she looked at him.  
  
"Miss Lovegood these elves have been in my family longer than I have been alive, it was not I that wasted my time on these elves," he said as he looked at her.  
  
"Than I assume that it wasn't you either that couldn't afford to waste their time coming up with a name," she said as she looked at him.  
  
"You assume correct," he responded as he looked down at his parchment.  
  
"Than why don't you name them Professor Snape?" she asked as she looked at him.  
  
"I don't care too name them Miss Lovegood," he said as he looked up at her. She could hear the exasperation creeping into his voice. There was an irked expression on his face and she could tell that she was bothering him. He sighed loudly and snapped his fingers and immediately Turtle appeared in the room. "Round up all the house elves and bring them here," he ordered at he looked at him. Turtle nodded and left the room quickly. "Since it bothers you so much that they have no names, than you name them," he said as he looked at her, he than looked down at hi parchment and paid no more mind to her. A couple of minutes later Turtle arrived with four other elves.  
  
They all stood in a straight line before Luna. Luna could tell that two of the elves where male, those two where clothed in the same color as turtle, as for the girls, they where wearing white. Luna turned her attention to the four house elves that where staring at her with their wide eyes and she could see them sparkle. "This is numbers 2,3, 4 and 5," Turtle said as he went down the line. Luna nodded as she stared at them.  
  
"Miss Lovegood will be giving the lot of you names," Snape said. Luna turned to look at him and she noted that he had not looked up at all when he said it. She turned to the House elves, who where all staring at her with something shinning in their eyes more than before. Luna turned to the House elf with the Black eyes; it was wearing white so she could tell that this was a female.  
  
"Your number 2?" she asked as she looked at it. The house elf nodded in response. "Well I'm going to name you Ebony," she said as she looked at her. She nodded in response, Luna than turned to number three, which was a male. He had large light blue eyes. "I'm going to name you Sky," she said as she looked at him. She than turned to the other boy and he had large brown eyes. "You remind me of Chocolate so that's what I'm going to call you," she said as she looked at him. Luna could see out of the corner of her eye that Snape was no longer looking at the parchment but staring at her intently. She soon turned her full attention to the last house elf standing before her. She had large light brown eyes. As she looked at the light pools, she knew exactly what to name her. "I'm naming you Honey," she said as she looked at her.  
  
"All of you depart now, back to your chores," Snape commanded. Luna turned to look at him and noted that he had once more turned back to the piece of parchment in his hands. All of the house elves walked off with a new beat in their steps. Luna turned back to her food and tried to eat, and since the only thing in the room living other than herself was Snape, she turned to study him. After a couple of minutes of silence passed by she wondered why he wasn't eating.  
  
"Professor Snape are you not hungry?" she asked as she looked at him. He looked up and stared at her.  
  
"It is a strange question to ask, but no," he responded. She wondered than why he was sitting at the table and why he had food before him. She than wondered when the last time that he had eaten was.  
  
"When was the last time you ate?" she asked as she looked at him. He raised a brow at this question.  
  
"Not that it is any of your business, but last I ate was breakfast," he responded as he looked at her.  
  
"It is not healthy to go on so long with nothing to eat," she said as she looked at him. He once again raised a brow at this. At that moment a House Elf walked into the room and walked over to him. She could tell, that this one was the one she and named Ebony. Ebony looked like she was the oldest House elf there. She looked older than Turtle.  
  
"Master Snape, you have a visitor waiting for you in the entrance hall," Ebony said as she looked at him. Luna watched closely, she wanted to see Snape's interactions with his House elves. She noted that Ebony did not quite act like the other House elves. She seemed to have more dignity and respect for herself than the whole lot of them. She turned to look at Snape and noted that he seemed to respect that about her. Luna noted that Ebony had turned and looked at his plate, which was full, and turned back to him with a look. Luna noted that it was one of those looks that you mother or grandmother would give you when you're not eating well. "Master Snape had not touched his food. You are not eating well Master, since you returned from Hogwarts you have not ate well. You've reduced your meals to once a day or once every two days," Ebony said as she looked at him.  
  
"Enough number... Enough Ebony," he said as he remembered that she had just been given a name. He stood up and walked past her. The House elf sighed and decided to start to clean up.  
  
"Ebony," Luna said as she stood up. "Has Professor Snape truly not been eating well?" she asked as she stood up and walked over to her. Ebony sighed and nodded as she continued to clean up.  
  
"He hasn't slept well either. Something is troubling him. He is spending long hours in the lab, when he wakes up he goes down there. He doesn't come out all day. He wanders the corridors as night and has fitful bouts of sleep. I don't know what troubles Master so, but I know that I have never seen him like this, and I have raised him since he was a young one," Ebony said as she cleaned up and walked into the kitchen. Luna followed her into the kitchen, wanting to find out more. She wondered what could possibly be troubling Snape now, now that the war was over and the only thing that he had to worry about was Hogwarts.  
  
"Do you know why?" Luna asked as she followed Ebony.  
  
"No I do not miss Lovegood," said the old House elf as she turned to look at Luna. The old elf could see the worry written all over Luna's face and looked softly at her. "You should not worry yourself over Master Snape's troubles. He knows very well how to take care of himself. There is no need for you to trouble yourself."  
  
"Are you the House Elf he calls on the most?" Luna asked her. She nodded and Luna could tell that there was perhaps a strong bond between her and Snape. She could tell that Ebony was ever loyal to Snape and would never betray him.  
  
"Master Snape has a lot of respect for me and he has patience with me. I wish I could say that for Honey and Turtle, but I can't. Honey is much to young, she easily anger Master Snape. And Turtle, even though he is the oldest, he does not act it and that causes Master Snape to loose his patience as well," Luna nodded as she looked down at Ebony. "You should be heading up stairs Miss Lovegood." Luna nodded and turned and walked out the kitchen wondering about Snape and why he was acting like that.

**TBC...**


	8. Part VIII

**Second Best Part VIII**  
  
Luna lay on the bed staring off into space. She was wondering on what Snape could possibly be going through. She wondered why he could not sleep at night, why he spent so much time in a lab, why he wasn't eating well and where was this lab. She wondered if he was working that hard on something that he could do nothing else, or was it perhaps that something was deeply bothering him. Or was it perhaps both of those things.  
  
"Does Miss Lovegood need anything?" asked Honey as she walked into the room. Luna sat up and looked at the elf standing on the floor. Luna stared at the house elf and shook her head. "Very well than, good night Miss Lovegood," said Honey ad she turned around to walk out of the room.  
  
"Wait Honey," Luna said as she thought of something. The house elf turned around and looked up at her. "Do you know who it was that came to visit Professor Snape?" Luna asked as she looked at the elf. She nodded in response.  
  
"Headmaster Dumbledore came to see if Miss Lovegood had arrived in good health," Honey responded as she looked up at Luna.  
  
"Has he left yet?" Luna asked as she looked at her. The House elf shook her head.  
  
"Master Snape and Headmaster Dumbledore are discussing some matters, on which I was not allowed the liberty to tell. Master Snape, however, asked me to come and check if you are well. If you are done with me Miss Lovegood, I must now return to him," she said as she looked at her. Luna nodded and the House Elf scampered out of the room. Luna sighed and lay back down. She wondered if this was how she would spend her whole summer.  
  
The following couple of days dragged by very slowly. Luna ventured about the manor for hours every day, she felt like she did when she was a first year trying to figure out how to get around the castle. The manor was large and not very interesting seeing how many of the rooms where actually locked. There where a couple rooms that weren't locked but they where either guest rooms or sitting rooms. She found a library on the second floor and when she found it she spent hours in there looking at the books. She wasn't surprised to see that most of them where potions books, but every once in a while there where books on werewolves, vampires and other mystical creatures that existed in the world of magic. There where also books on Defense Against the Dark Arts and many books on Dark arts.  
  
She hardly saw Snape at all in those days. He wouldn't come to eat; he came once a day to eat and that was always during dinner. And when she did see him he would so much as look at her. He would sweep into the room, eat quickly but gracefully and leave the room in one great rush. He never said a word to her. Luna spent some evening talking to Ebony and she could tell that the elf was getting increasingly worried about her Master and she was getting frustrated with him. No matter what Ebony could not persuade her master to go eat.  
  
Luna woke up one morning and got out of bed. She walked into the washroom took a shower and when she was done she dressed in all white. She put on white jeans and a white shirt. Over her clothing she slipped on a white cloak. She walked through the house and made her way to the dinning room. When she got there she wasn't surprised to see that table was set for only one and it was at her end of the table. She rolled her eyes and walked into the side door and made her way to the kitchen. Upon entering the kitchen she found distressed Ebony sitting on the counter. Next to her stood Turtle whom was patting her on the back.  
  
"Where is Professor Snape?" Luna asked as she walked in.  
  
"I assume he is in the lab like always," Ebony responded with a sad sigh. Luna stared at Ebony for a moment. Luna had walked all over the manor already and she had yet to find that lab. She wondered where it was.  
  
"Where is the lab?" Luna asked as she turned to the elves. Ebony looked up at her.  
  
"Why do you ask Miss Lovegood?" she asked as she looked at her.  
  
"I want to ask Professor Snape to come and eat," she responded as she looked at Ebony. Ebony looked at her in wonderment. She couldn't believe that the skinny blonde girl was going to disturb her master in the lab. She found it absurd that she believed that she would be able to convince him to come eat. Turtle jumped off the counter and walked over to her.  
  
"I will show you Miss Lovegood," Turtle said as he walked over to her. He grabbed her hand gently and walked her out of the kitchen. He walked her through the dinning room and down the hall. When they reached the end of a very long hallway he turned to a very large painting. The painting was of who she believed was Salazar Slytherin. Turtle let go of her hand and walked over to the painting. He tapped the bottom left corner of the frame four times and than back up. The painting than began to go up very much the way that a curtain does at the beginning of a play. Luna looked and where the painting had once been was now a door. Luna opened the door where there was a very dim lit stairwell with burning torches for lights. "They lead down to the lab," Turtle said pointing to the stairway.  
  
"Are you going to accompany me?" she asked as she turned to look at Turtle. She was starting to feel nervous. The elf shook his head.  
  
"We are not allowed in the lab," he said as he looked at her apologetically. Luna nodded as she understood and turned away from him. She started to go down the stairs. As she walked down she felt the air become cooler. She soon reached the lab and as she walked through she found that it was rather larger than she expected it to be. She found that it was larger than the Potions classroom at school. She looked around and made her way through. The lab very much reminded her of the labs in those muggle horror movies.  
  
"Professor Snape?" she called out as she walked through the lab. The lab surprisingly had more light than the stairway that led to it. She soon found herself at the very back of the lab where there was a desk with parchment and quills all over it. She walked around the desk and sat down in the chair behind it. She looked down at the parchment lying over the desk; they seemed to be Potions Notes. She wondered if this was perhaps on what Professor Snape had been working on for so long.  
  
She began to read his notes and found that they where on the Love potion. She wondered why Snape was studying the ingredients of the Love Potions so thoroughly. She skimmed through the notes and found that he was not only studying the Love Potion but the antidote to the Love potions. She wondered why he was studying these two potions. She looked at another piece of parchment that had the instructions and ingredients to the Antidote to the Love Potion. On another piece of parchment was the same list of ingredients, but it was altered. She wondered if perhaps Snape was perhaps trying to find another way in making the Anti Love Potion, but she thought that it was perhaps a waste of time on the count that there was no point in making another potion that served the same purpose as one that already exists.  
  
"Miss Lovegood," said a cold voice as soon as she heard that voice she shivered and dropped the piece of parchment she was holding. She looked up and found Snape standing in front of the desk, glaring down at her. There was an ominous look in his eyes. "What, pray tell, do you think that you are doing?" he asked. She looked up at him sheepishly.  
  
"I was wondering if you where going to go up and eat breakfast," she responded as she looked at him. At this statement he raise a brow at her. "Ebony is very stressed out about you not eating well and quite frankly I am also worried that you aren't eating well. After all Professor Snape, you know what they say, 'No Fuel in the belly no fire in the brain,'" she said as she looked up at him. This time both his eyebrows shot up into his hairline as he looked down at her in astonishment. She than stood up and walked around the desk, she walked over and stood before him. She grabbed his hand and started to drag him in the direction of the stairs. She pulled him down the hall and towards the kitchen.  
  
He was absolutely dumbfounded by the fact that she was pulling him by the hand towards the kitchen. As for Luna when she touched his hands it felt like a small spark of electricity had passed between his hand and hers and caused her hand to tingle pleasantly. And above that she was surprised that his hands where so warm. She had always figured that his hand would be cold and clammy, the way you would imagine the hand of death to be like. When they entered the dinning room Snape finally snapped out of it and stopped walking, which caused Luna to look back at him. He immediately snatched his hands out of her small grasp and he glared at her.  
  
She looked into his eyes and as he gazed into them he could see a pleading look in her gaze. "Please Professor Snape? You must eat something, look at you. It looks like you loosing weight and your paler than usual and there are very large bags under your eyes. You are not eating well and you aren't sleeping well. Please?" she said as she looked into his eyes. He looked down at her and wondered why she was getting so worried about him. He was about to give in but something came to him.  
  
"I can't Miss Lovegood," he said as he ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "I have a lot of work to do," he said as he turned away from her and walked away. Luna watched as he walked away and cursed herself. She was so close! She wondered why he was being so damn hardheaded. She turned away and walked over to the table and slumped down to eat.  
  
**A/N:** Well that's all for now folks! Please Review! Hope to post the next chapter up soon! Hope you enjoyed this one! 


	9. Part IX

**A/N:**I am sorry that I have not updated in quite sometime. I hope that you enjoy this chapter and I hope that I post the next chapter up soon. Enjoy!

**Second Best Part IX  
**  
Two weeks passed by and Luna did not see Snape at all. She was constantly found herself thinking about what Snape was working on so hard. She wondered why he was working on whatever it was that he was working on so hard. He was trying to invent a new potion and he was trying to do so, so feverishly that it seemed to Luna that if he didn't find the way to make this potion that he would either go insane or die. She wondered if perhaps that was the case, but she figured that it wasn't on the count that what he was studying was the Love Potion and the Anti Love Potion.  
  
But that was not the only thing that bothered Luna. The other thing was the way she had felt while she held his hand. At first it was a shock to her that she had grabbed him. The next thing she noticed was that she felt a small spark in between them. It made her skin tingle and her blood to run warm. Warmth seemed to pass from his hand and onto hers. His warmth washed over and spread like waves through her bloodstream that went up her arms and seemed to pass through the rest of her body. Ever since he had snatched his hand away her body had not felt the same. It seemed to be missing warmth; the warmth that it used to provide was no longer enough for her. She felt as though she was missing something.  
  
This thought only brought on a series of other things to mind. It made her realize that she did not want just any warmth that she wished for it was his. Which caused a series of unwelcome questions to set in. For instance why did she crave HIS warmth? Why did she worry over whether he ate or not? Why did she worry over the fact that he was not sleeping well? Why did she hope every morning that she would see him more than once a day? Why did she wish him to speak to her? Why did it hurt her that he didn't speak to her?  
  
She sighed and rolled over on her side. She refused to accept the thought that she was perhaps having feelings for Snape. She refused to believe that her respect had grown beyond what it was. She refused to believe that she liked him in a way that wasn't a student teacher way. Even if everything pointed to that, she refused to accept it. There was just no way, allowing herself to admit to that would be the start to a lot of pain. He would never feel anything for her and she knew it. She was nothing more than a pester of a student in his eyes. And either way there was a very large age gap between them. So nothing would ever happen there.  
  
Luna felt a headache coming on. This wasn't the first in the week; she had gotten several in the course of time. It was all because of all the thinking she had done over the week all of those things where just really becoming a bother to her. She got out of bed and decided that she would walk down to the kitchen to see if anything could be done about the hammer that was currently slamming on the inside of her cranium.  
  
As she made her way down the hall she began to rub the temples on either side of her head with her hands. She rubbed her right temple with her right hand and the other with her left hand. She made her way over the stairs and walked down the stairs rubbing her temples. She closed her eyes, as she knew very well how to walk with her eyes closed. As she was about to step on the floor, her right foot landed on something round and soft. As she began to fall her eyes shot open and she saw something round and orange rolling out from under her foot as she fell to the side. She than fell to her side landing painfully on the floor and twisting her ankle rather painfully.  
  
Luna hissed as she sat up and held her ankle in her hands. She looked over at the middle of he floor and found what was that orange thing that she had tripped over. It was a very large and orange. Luna wondered what the hell was an orange doing laying in the middle of the floor. She rolled her pant-leg and looked at her ankle. Luna sighed in exasperation. She wondered what else would go wrong. She than tried to stand up and the moment she put weight on her ankle she felt a piercing pain shoot of from her ankle and up her leg causing her to fall back down onto the floor. "This is just perfect!" she moaned to herself as she looked at her ankle.  
  
"Miss Lovegood, what are you doing on the floor?" he asked as he walked over to her. He walked past her and stood before her. He looked down at her and from where Luna was sitting he looked like a giant.  
  
"I was coming down the stairs and there was an orange lying at the bottom of the stairs and I accidentally stepped on it and fell down," she responded as she looked up at him. He looked behind him and found the orange that was lying on the floor, he than turned his gaze back to her.  
  
"Than why are you still on the floor?" he asked as he continued to look down at her.  
  
"I twisted my ankle pretty bad. I tried to get up, but I just fell back down," she responded as she looked up at him. At this statement he furrowed his brow and crouched down.  
  
"Let me inspect your ankle," he said in a demanding tone of voice. Luna lifted her injured ankle and showed it to him. He carefully untied her shoe and took it off, he than preceded to take her sock off so he could look at her ankle. Luna once again felt that warmth wash over her as she felt him gently grab her ankle. He lightly ran his finger over her ankle and she shivered at his touch on the count that it was so light. He was barely touching her ankle. "Well it is not broken," he said as he looked into her eyes. Luna looked into his eyes and she saw him swallow a lump in his throat. "It's just a bad sprain," he said as he looked at her. "You need to stay off this ankle for at least two days."  
  
"That's great," she said sarcastically as she looked at him. He raised a brow at her and she sighed. "I hate staying in bed. There is absolutely nothing to do if you stay in bed all day. I'm going to go insane," she said as she looked at him.  
  
"I was under the impression that you where already insane," he said as he looked at her.  
  
"You will find that I have changed a lot after my fourth year."  
  
"Indeed you have," he said as he stared at her. He soon looked away and grabbed her sock and placed it inside her shoe. He stood up and walked to her side. He than scooped her up in his arms, this surprised her and she wrapped her arms around his neck so as not to fall. Her face turned pink and she turned to look at him.  
  
"What are you doing?" she asked as she looked at him. He looked down at her.  
  
"Taking you to your room," he responded as he started to walk up the stairs. Luna could feel her face grow red and she was relieved when he placed her on her bed, but as he removed his arms she could feel the cold begin to set back in. She mentally kicked herself for feeling so stupid about something like that.  
  
"Thank you from bringing me up here," she said as she looked up at him.  
  
"Well I'm sorry about the orange," he said as he looked down at her.  
  
"You shouldn't say sorry about my mistake," she said as she looked at him  
  
"Well actually the reason the orange was there was my fault," he said as he looked down at her. She furrowed her brows at this. "Honey came up to me and wanted to force me to eat it. I was getting frustrated so I hurled it at her. I guess she didn't pick it up," he said as he responded her unasked question.  
  
"That wasn't very nice, I'm sure that all she wanted was you to eat something," she said as she looked at him. "And it's pretty damn childish to throw something at someone. I hope you know that you behaved in the way that a spoiled child would. One would think that you are Draco Malfoy."  
  
"And how would you know what Draco Malfoy behaves like?" he asked as he looked at her. She could tell that she had struck a nerve there; he seemed to be offended by being compared to a spoiled child like Draco.  
  
"He's my cousin," she responded while rolling her eyes. "Lucius is my uncle because he's my mother's older brother."  
  
"Lucius had never mentioned having a sister," he said as he looked down at her with his eyebrows furrowed. She laid back and rolled her eyes. This was not something that she wanted to talk about. She hated the fact that she was related to the Malfoys. She was very happy with no one knowing that.  
  
"Well you wouldn't, the family disowned my mum for marrying my dad," she responded as she looked at him. He merely nodded in response. That seemed to happen a lot when it came to pureblood families. However, he never would've guessed that she would be related to Draco Malfoy and that she knew anything about him. He turned to look at her and wondered whether or not to ask how she knew that he was like.  
  
"How do you know what he's like, from what I've seen you two don't even acknowledge each others existence while you're at school," he said as he looked down at her. She looked up at him.  
  
"Because his dad wants him to marry a pureblood and it was between me and Ginny Weasley and Lucius hates the Weasley's more than he hates me and my mum. Luckily for me he thought that I was insane and he said he didn't want his son to marry a nutcase, but I had to spend an entire summer with them and that was hell," she responded as she looked at him. Snape only nodded.  
  
"Well I have things to do, you know what to do if you need anything," he said as he looked down at her. He soon turned around and walked out of the room. She watched as he left and than turned to the bedside table. She hated that summer that she spent with the Malfoy's it was when she was thirteen and Malfoy was fourteen. She had gone to the Quidditch world cup with her father and had run into the Malfoy's there. He father and Lucius had a chat and somehow Malfoy had persuaded her father to allow Luna to spend the rest of the summer with him. So the next thing she knew she was with the Malfoys.  
  
It hadn't taken long for the Malfoys to see that she was not completely sane. When they found that she was kind of loopy Narcissa and Draco took to making fun of her. The thing that she found interesting was that Lucius didn't treat her like that. As cold and cruel that he was with his family and the rest of the world, he seemed to treat her the way no other person had treated her before. He had treated her the way you treat any other competent person. He didn't treat her as if he thought she where insane and mentally challenged. He expected things of her. The thing that was stranger than anything else was the fact that when he was around he would not allow Narcissa and Draco to treat her wrong.  
  
She had never understood why he had treated her that way. After that she had spent her time wondering why he had treated her like a normal person, the way she had always wished to be treated. She wondered about that unconsciously for months. She dreamt of it, but the dreams soon faded. She had completely forgotten about that summer until Snape had brought it up. Now it all seemed to rush back to her and she was back to wondering why the hell Lucius had treated her like that.  
  
She had seen him that day at the ministry; she didn't think that he had seen her standing there. He had all of his attention focused and Harry and on the prophecy in Harry's hands. He was too preoccupied to see the rest of them. She hadn't expected him to hurt her or the rest of her friends, but she had soon realized that her uncle was doing his job and that at the moment that's what mattered to him. She hadn't expected him to care about her, but she had wanted to speak to him. She wanted to ask him why he treated her the way he did. She had found that so refreshing. She hated when everyone treated her as if she was mentally challenged and she hated it when they called her names. Lucius was the only one who treated her differently. Even her own father treated her like she was mentally challenged. She loved her father, but she didn't like to be treated like that. He treated her as if she was a small child.


	10. Part X

**A/N:** I haven't posted in a while because I've been lazy and confused. Well I hope that you enjoy this chapter. Please leave a Review, say anything.

**Second Best Part X**

Over the next couple of days Luna stayed in bed and read a book all day long. Honey would come by and bring her some food every time it was time for a meal. Luna was bored out of her mind. Just lying there in bed all day long was driving her insane. Proof of that was the fact that she was actually contemplating visiting her uncle Lucius in Azkaban Prison. The tricky thing about that was the fact that she couldn't get in to visit him unless an adult was there to watch over them. The only person that she knew of that would take her at the moment was Professor Snape and she was pretty damn sure that he would not agree to take her to visit a convict in Azkaban Prison, especially not Lucius Malfoy.

Luna got off the bed and made her way down to the dinning room. Her ankle finally felt fine enough to walk on. It wasn't causing her any kind of discomfort anymore. She slowly made her way down the stairs and into the dinning room. It was time for lunch and she felt kind of hungry. As she walked into the dinning room she was surprised to find Snape sitting at his end of the table. He looked up at her when she walked in, he quirked an eyebrow at this. "I see that your ankle is feeling better," he said as she took her seat at her end of the table.

"Yes it does," she responded as she looked down at what there was to eat. She ate very slowly and watched his movements. He looked like he was reading something, most likely the Daily Prophet. She was very surprised to see that he was eating as well. She smiled and continued to eat her food. They both ate and sat in silence. Both of them where very preoccupied with what was on their mind. One of them thinking of Love Potions and the other thinking about a trip to Azkaban. "Professor Snape," Luna finally said when she was through eating.

"Hmm?" he asked as he continued to stare at the Daily Prophet. When he finished reading the sentence that he was reading he looked up at her. She was currently staring down at her hands and wondering what was the best way to ask him.

"Do you think that it would be at all possible for me to visit Lucius in Azkaban?" She asked as she looked up at him. For a moment he had no reaction. He merely stared at her, unable to say anything. After a moment he sat back and looked into her eyes.

"I am not sure that you can, after all Professor Dumbledore placed you in my care so that no Death Eater would know where you are. It wouldn't exactly be the brightest ideas to go and visit a Death Eater, now would it? Besides you aren't old enough to go in by yourself, meaning that I would have to go in with you and Lucius will not be pleased to see me, nor I him," he responded in his silkiest tone possible. She knew that what he was saying made a lot of sense, but she wanted to see her uncle. She knew that there was something behind the way that he treated her and she needed to know what it was!

"What can Lucius possibly do to me? He's behind bars; he can't hurt me from there. And I'm pretty sure that no Death Eater that is on the loose would go and visit him. It would be too risky and idiotic. And it doesn't have to be you to take me, someone else from the order can," she said as she looked at him. He shook his head.

"I would first have to run it by Professor Dumbledore," he said as he looked down at his newspaper. Luna smiled to herself, as she knew that was a definite maybe. She stood up to leave and he looked up at her. "Miss Lovegood, why do are you suddenly interested in visiting Lucius? I thought that you hated him."

"I don't really hate him. I just don't really like him. But I want to ask him something. Something that has been troubling a lot lately and just won't leave me the alone," she responded as she looked at her professor. She hoped that was enough of an explanation. She really didn't need him to know all about her life. She didn't see the point in telling him why she wanted to visit him. He wouldn't understand. He looked at her and merely nodded. She turned away and walked out of the room.

She walked up the stairs and picked up the book that she had been reading the past couple of days. She was through reading it and wanted to return it to where it belonged. She walked over to the library and stepped inside the room. She put the book back where she found it and started to look through the shelves of books. She wanted to look at another book. She needed something to do during the days. If not she would be bored out of her mind. As she looked through the shelves she soon found a book that caught her eye. She took it out of the shelf and she plopped down on the couch. She flipped through the first couple of pages.

The book was a thin, black, leather bound book. There was no title on the spine of the book nor on the front cover of the book and that was perhaps what caught her eye, apart from the fact that it was much thinner than most of the books in the library. As she flipped through the pages she soon found that the text in the book was handwriting and not just any handwriting either. She recognized the penmanship, it belonged to Professor Snape or at least it very much resembled his penmanship. Curiosity caught the better of her and she decided to read a page of it. She figured it was a journal or something because it had dates and everything. It was dated in the beginning of November of that year.

_Potter and I have made a wager. We where arguing about his pitiful essay, how he got into my 7th year Potions class I will never know. Somehow he brought up the subject that I've been writing about the past couple of months and the boy thinks he knows something that I don't. Have I been that unsubtle and even POTTER has seen me studying this? Anyhow the bet was made and by the end of the year we shall see who wins. If he does than he gets the damn recommendation letter that he so desperately needs to become an Auror. I would rather die than to give him that letter and the satisfaction. If I win I get to put the brat under Viretaserum and find out anything that I wish. Perhaps the reason I agreed to this wager is that I'm absolutely sure that I will win. There is no way possible for me to loose. Well, McGonegall is calling, that insufferable woman. Undoubtedly to 'make a friendly wager' on this Saturdays Quidditch game._

Luna closed the book and left her finger on the page. She sat there thinking about this. Harry had mentioned this wager to her before, the day that she had detention with Snape and he made her go up and give Harry the letter of recommendation. That meant that Snape lost the bet. She wondered what they could have possibly bet on that Snape was so sure that he would win. And if he was so sure that he would win the wager than why did Harry win?

Another thing was that what she had dreamt of when she was staying with Charlie Weasley. She had dreamt that she saw Snape and Harry arguing in the Dungeons. Was she perhaps dreaming of the day they made the wager? And if that were so than why would she had been dreaming of that? Sure she had been curious to know of the wager when Harry had mentioned it, but she wasn't that curious. Perhaps her subconscious knew something that she did not. Or perhaps she was simply blowing the dream completely out of proportion.

She sighed and leaned back on the couch. She had to admit that she was curious what the wager was about and she was curious to know what Snape had been writing about for the past couple of months. She thought of this and wondered if she should read and find out. On one hand she knew that it wouldn't be right because after all this was someone Journal, this was Snape's private life and she had no business reading through it. On the other hand this was _Snape's private life _something no one knew about and this was her one and only chance. On top of that she was extremely curious about the bet and about what Snape was writing about.

She wondered if it would do any harm to just read a little bit more. She figured that as long as Snape didn't find out that she was reading his private journal that it would be just fine, and there was no way he could find out. But than there was that saying that kept running through her head at the moment 'Curiosity killed the cat' and it made a very valid point. What she read in Snape's journal she would not be able to forget. And what if she grew a guilty conscience about what she discovered by reading his journal? She knew that she would probably wind up confessing what she did to him to try and clear her conscience. And knowing Snape he would probably through some sort of fit and damn her to hell. But she wasn't scared of him.

She sighed, as she already knew what he would do. She opened the journal and turned the page. It was dated a week later. She knew that if she didn't read it than she would go insane with wondering and she figured if she did grow a guilty conscience and confessed what she did to Snape he wouldn't be able scare her. Snape had never been able to intimidate her and she knew that he wouldn't be able to now. She looked down at the entry.

_There was another Death Eater tonight. The sadistic bastard of my Dark Lord had a great time torturing me. He says that he's getting tired of me bringing back the same report about Dumbledore. My entire body aches. And as if the Death Eater meeting was not enough I bumped into Lovegood when I was coming back into the castle. The insane little twit apologized for it and merely walked off as if nothing. I of course docked points off of her for walking about the castle after curfew, but she clearly didn't care. She never has cared about House Points and who wins the Cup. Than again Ravenclaw hasn't won the cup in a long time. On another note Potter is really starting to grate on my last nerves. The bloody boy watches my every move whenever he and I are in the same room or hall. I fear that I might one day strangle the boy if he crosses my path. Not that I would mind, but I'm sure that Professor Dumbledore wouldn't like that much. There is no way in hell that I will allow that mediocre, over glorified idiot to win this wager. _

Luna smiled to herself she had always found it quite amusing that Snape hated Harry so much. Every insult that Snape said about Harry she found was very humorous. She wished that she was in his Potions class to watch more of it, but alas she was in the year beneath Harry's. It wouldn't have mattered anyway after all Harry always had potions with Slytherin and she was in Ravenclaw. She found it peculiar that Snape actually bothered to mention her in his journal. She could picture Snape mentioning Harry because he hated him so much, but as far as she knew Snape had never really showed hate towards her.

She remembered that night that Snape wrote about. She had been walking about the castle because she was a little restless. Thoughts plaguing her about Harry, it was a time that she would rather not remember. She sighed as he did not mention the wager much or the subject that he wrote about a lot. She closed the journal as she heard footsteps in the hall. She walked over to the bookshelf quickly and took out another book. As the footsteps got closer she sat back down on the couch hiding the journal behind her. Just as she opened the book to the first page Snape stepped into the room. She looked up to see him standing in the doorway merely staring at her.

"What are you doing?" he asked as he stared down at her.

"Reading a book," she responded simply as she looked up at him. He merely nodded and stepped into the library. He made his way straight across the room to a bookshelf on the south wall. He fingered the spines of the books and soon picked out the one that he was looking for. She watched his long elegant fingers as the fingered the spines of the book and the way that he pulled the book out. He swept across the room and left without saying another word. He closed the door behind him and she listened as he walked down the hall. When she was sure that he was far away she stepped out of the library and made her way towards her room.

When she walked into the room she closed the door behind her and placed the books, which she soon found out was about the Dark Arts, and placed it on her nightstand. She walked over to her bed and sat down on it. She wondered where she should put the book. She had to hide it somewhere, she couldn't simply leave it out for anyone to see. She looked around the room. She didn't want to put it in her trunk because she felt like she would be steeling it or something. She decided to simply place it under the mattress. She would read some more some other time.

**TBC...**


	11. Second Best Part XI

**A/N:** I'm sorry that it took so long to update but I have not been able to get on the Internet for a long time. There is once more something wrong with my Internet service and I don't know what it is. Please Read and Review. I'll try to post soon.

**Second Best Part XI **

Luna made her way through Lovegood manor and sneaked down into the basement where she knew her mother was perhaps working on an experiment. Her mother had her back toward her and she was taking out her wand. She raised her wand and said a curse that Luna had never heard uttered before. _Avada Kadavra. _She saw a brilliant flash of green light and she watched as her mother fell to the floor. Luna stood there, watching the body on the floor and when she noticed her mother wasn't moving she slowly made her way over to her. She kneeled down and shook her mother. "Mum," she said softly as she moved the blonde hair out of her mother's face. Her little hands shook her and shook her. She could feel tears begin to well in her eyes as she looked at her. "Mummy," she said as she lay down on the floor next to her mom. She grabbed her mom's arm and wrapped around her little body. She lay there on the floor as tears slid down her face.

"No!" Luna screamed as she sat up in bed. There were tears rolling down her face. She brought up her knees to her chest and she hugged them as she rocked back and forth. She wildly looked around the room, momentarily forgetting that she was in Snape's manor. The door suddenly burst open and Snape came in with his wand up. She looked up at him through tear filled eyes and stared at him. He had immediately turned on the light as he entered the room. His expression became confused and he walked over to Luna's bedside.

"Luna are you all right?" he asked as he stared down at her. She looked at him through tear filled eyes and she could feel the lump in her throat causing her pain. She held back the sobs, she had always been a silent crier and it hurt. Luna looked at Snape and knew that he had not been asleep because he was fully clothed in that days clothes and it was only midnight. She knew for a fact that he usually slept late. She took in deep breaths and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"I'm fine," she said, her voice cracked slightly and she stared up at him. He was looking down at her with a raised eyebrow and the expression on his face was something that she had never seen before. There was actually a look of concern on his face. "I'm sorry for disturbing you Professor," she said as she looked at him. He merely stared at her for a moment before nodding. He than turned and walked out of the room as gracefully as ever and he turned the light off shortly before closing the door behind him. Luna lay back down and closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep.

When Luna woke up the next morning she did not want to get up. There where still days that Luna felt raw and sad about her mothers passing. When her father found them both lying on the floor together he broke down into tears, thinking that she was dead as well, but Luna had heard him and got up from where she lay asleep. She had been down there with her mother so long that she had cried herself to sleep. She had walked over to her father and hugged him tightly, both of them crying. When the people got there to take her away they said that it was an _accident._ Luna had believed them, until the beginning of her fifth year when they learned about the unforgivable curses. That was the reason that she had changed.

Luna crawled out of bed at lunchtime and didn't bother to change. She felt too emotionally exhausted and she didn't care too much about her appearance. She slowly made her way down the hall in her baggy, white cotton pajama bottoms and baggy white t-shirt. She than slowly went down the flight of stairs and walked into the kitchen. She walked through the door and let herself drop into her seat. As she sat down she made a loud PLOP! Noise, which caused Snape and look at her. She merely turned her eyes in his direction and found them staring at her in an extremely calculating way.

"How are you feeling?" he asked as he stared at her. She looked into his eyes and sighed. She was very tired and she didn't much feel like talking to anyone. She picked at her food for a couple of moments.

"Tired," she responded as she looked at him. She pushed the plate of food in front of her away. She stood up and excused herself and she slowly walked out of the room. She didn't even know why she had bothered to walk down to the dining room. She hadn't expected to have much of an appetite to eat something. She slowly made her way out of the house and as she did she noticed that it was cloudy out. It looked like it would rain. There was a cool breeze in the air. She very slowly made her way around the manor. She felt as if perhaps the fresh air would do her some good.

She wrapped her arms around herself as she could feel the wind hit her hard. She slowly made her way towards the forest and made her way into it. She tried to clear her head of everything, but she simply couldn't. Her mother and the horrible green flash kept replaying in her head. The way her mother body hit the floor, the dull thud the concrete made when her mother's body came into contact with it still wrung in her ears. She placed her hands over her ears and shook her head, not wanting to hear any of it. Tears welled in her eyes as she walked.

She could hear all the times her mother sang to her in her head. She pictured her mothers decaying body as it lay in the cold grown behind her house. She soon fell to her knees on the floor. The tears began to roll down her face. It was than that the heavens opened up and very large drops of rain began to pour down on the earth. She had always felt that the rain was like it was washing away all the evils of the world, but now she didn't find any consolation in the rain. She heard loud claps of thunder that seemed to start to drowning out the sobs that she could no longer hold back. She rocked herself back and forth and placed her hand over her ears. She sobbed aloud and tried to force the sound of her mother's voice out of her ears. She opened her eyes and tried to see through the glaze in them.

Luna sat on the cold ground and began to shiver. The wind was beginning to blow harder and the rain that had soaked through her clothes where chilling her bones, but she didn't care. She wanted to be alone and she really didn't care if she got sick. She could not understand what had been so bad that had caused her mother to kill herself. She had thought that it was perhaps herself that had done something wrong. Was she such a horrible daughter that her mother couldn't bare to live with her? She didn't understand why her mother killed herself. She had always seemed so happy. Her mother and her father had never even fought when she was around.

Large tears rolled down her face and mixed with the rain. Loud claps of thunder where heard over her head and it got darker. She could feel the temperature drop and she began to shiver. She lay down on the grass and stared at the top of the trees. She could feel the darkness begin to creep about the forest and around her. The day was cold and dark, very much how she felt inside. The wind blew hard and her wet locks of hair where draped on her face. Large drops of water dropped on her face and the rest of her body, but she merely lay there. She was becoming numb, both metaphorically and literally. Her eyes soon began to make her feel dizzy and things began to get dark. Her visions began to come in and out of focus, before she knew it she knocked out in the cold.

When Luna came to it wasn't raining quite so hard, but claps of thunder could still be heard overhead and it looked darker than before. Lighting bolts seemed to light up the sky. Luna sat up and she could feel the pains of a headache. She stood up and looked around. She wondered for how long she had been laying down and she shivered as she was freezing. She sighed and slowly made her way in the direction that she had thought that she had come from. She was soon sneezing and despite the fact that her forehead felt very warm she was freezing. Her body ached as she took the steps back toward the manor. She walked around the forest in the rain for at least half an hour more before she found her way out the forest.

Her eyes soon fell on Snape Manor and she felt relieved. She shivered and started walking faster. She slowed her pace as she neared the front door because she was feeling exhausted. Her head was spinning and she felt very nauseous. She figured that she most likely had become very sick, but than again who wouldn't. Anyone lying in the rain in the cold would get sick. She felt too tired and sick to continue thinking of her mother. She began to cough as she reached he door and she felt as if she was about to cough up a lung. When her coughing fit was partly though her throat felt like it was burning and her lungs hurt. She slowly turned the doorknob and walked into the entrance hall.

As she stepped into the dimly lit hall she could vaguely see Snape pacing back and forth and her head once more began to feel as if it where spinning. He immediately turned his gaze in her direction, but she could not get her eyes to steady enough to focus on the expression on his face. "LUNA LOVEGOOD WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN THE PAST COUPLE OF HOURS! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LATE IT IS! YOU FOOLISH GIRL!" he said as he rushed forward but as he did so she began to sway. Pretty soon her knees could no longer hold her up and they buckled beneath her causing her to fall to the floor in a dead faint.

A couple of minutes later she very slowly opened her eyes. Her vision was blurred and the room looked like a blur of colors. She knew that she was in her room and that she was lying dry under the covers. She also knew that she was tightly tucked in and despite that she was still quaking from the cold that she felt. She closed her eyes and tilted her head to the right and opened them. She could vaguely make out the figure of Snape sitting on the edge of the bed applying something wet to her forehead. She could vaguely hear his voice telling her that she had a blazing fever. Her body temperature was dangerously high. She could vaguely hear the concern in his voice and he seemed to be telling her to hold on. But once more she felt the room go black and she heard no more.

The next time Luna opened her eyes her vision was slightly better. She looked around the room and found that Snape had fallen asleep in a chair beside her bed. She looked towards the window and the sun was shining brightly through the windows. She still felt like she was burning up slightly, but she felt as though she was slightly better than the night before. She soon turned her gaze to the sleeping form of Snape and she wondered if he had stayed the whole night there. She turned away from him and closed her eyes, she had no idea why but she still felt very tired.

Luna fell asleep once more and woke a couple of hours later. Her eyes slowly fluttered opened and she could see large pools of green staring straight into her face. As her eyes focused she realized that it was Turtle standing at the side of her bed and looking into her eyes. As soon as Turtle saw that she was awake he began to hop up and down with happiness and a large smile on his face. Luna smiled very weakly at him. "Hello Turtle, do you know what time it is?" she asked as she stared as best she could into the face of the elated little elf.

"It is high noon Miss Lovegood, but you are finally awake! You gave everyone a right good scare there, expecially master Snape," Turtle said as he stared at her. Luna nodded and turned away. She was feeling slightly cold and she could feel her face burning. "You are still ill, but you are better than you where yesterday," Turtle said to her. Luna merely nodded in response; she could feel the beginning of a headache coming on. "Miss Lovegood it is time that you take your potion," Turtle said. Luna slowly opened her eyes and turned her attention to Turtle, who was bringing a vial near her lips. She opened her mouth and drunk the potion and soon felt her headache go away.

"Where is Professor Snape?" she asked as she stared at Turtle.

"Ebony asked Master Snape to at least get a couple of hours of sleep," Turtle responded. Luna nodded and turned away and stared at the wall. She hoped that she hadn't been much trouble to Snape. She also hoped that he was not angry with her, she wasn't scared if he was, but she just didn't want to put up with his bad temper at that point. She wondered what where Snape's motives for staying at her bedside all night long She found that it was strange that he would, after all he could have just allowed one of the elves to watch over her. "Miss Lovegood, why did you do this to yourself?" she heard Turtle suddenly ask. Luna slowly turned her attention to the elf standing by her bed. It's large green eyes where shining and there was a melancholy look on his face.

"You wouldn't understand Turtle," she said as she looked away. She could find no words that would be able to explain it and she knew that Turtle wouldn't understand. She felt as though no one would understand. No one she knew had ever gone through what she did. The only person that she knew had lost his parents was Harry and they didn't leave him on purpose. They where murdered, but had they had the chance to chose to live the rest of their lives, being able to see him grow up she knew they would have chose to. But her mother, her mother was in good health and lived a healthy life and yet her mother chose to not live. Her mother decided that watching Luna grow up was not enough for her to continue living.

Luna felt tortured by the fact that she felt as though her mother did not love her. She also felt tortured with the fact that she did not know why her mother committed suicide. She felt as though she would never find out why. Luna turned her attention to Turtle who was looking at her sympathetically. "Miss Lovegood, perhaps if you unloaded the troubles in your heart it would not be so heavy with pain," Turtle said as it looked at her. Luna stared at him for a moment, as it seemed to make sense what he said. Turtle turned away and walked out of the room. Luna sat back to think.

**TBC……**


	12. Part XII

**A/N:** I'm sorry if I have taken long to update. I am truly sorry. I wish that I could get my Internet back up, but anyway. I hope that you enjoy this chapter and I hope that I could get them (meaning future chapters) to you as quick as possible.  
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**Second Best Part XII**

"I see your awake," Snape said as he walked in. He was very serious, though that was something normal, but there was something different about him. He seemed unwilling to turn his gaze in her direction. He was standing in the threshold looking around the room as if he was searching for something. He than walked over to her bedside, all the while staring at her nightstand, not turning to look at her not even once. "Has Turtle come in to give you your Potion?" he asked as he stared at the vial next to her bed.

"Yes he has," she responded as she stared at him. She wondered why he was not looking at her. He merely nodded and turned on his heel and walked over to the door. When he reached the threshold he seemed to remember something and he turned around.

"Lupin will be coming in three days to fetch you. He will be taking you to see Lucius," he said in his usual, silky, velvety tone. He than turned on his heel and walked out of the room. Luna lay in bed doing nothing for a couple of hours, trying to distract herself while she sat. She remembered that she had a book on her nightstand and than decided to grab the book and begin to read. She read the first couple of chapters when she got bored. She wondered how Snape could possibly read such books. They weren't very interesting. As she lay there thinking about nothing in particular, she remembered about Snape's journal, which she still had tucked beneath her mattress.

Luna stood from the bed and sat on the floor next to the bed. She reached under the mattress and started feeling around for the black leather bound journal. She soon found it and pulled it out form where it was. As she sat, leaning against the bed for support she opened it to the last page. As she looked down at the date she remembered that day perfectly. That was the day that she had talked to Snape and he had told her that she was not second best to Hermione. She found it slightly strange the fact that her name was the very first thing written on the page.

_Lovegood has a thing for Potter. If that just doesn't put the icing on the cake. What an annoyance that is. I thought that Lovegood, as strange as she is, would never fall in love with anyone. Furthermore I would have expected much more from her than for her to fall for THE BOY WHO LIVED. Oh well, it is disappointing to see that she is like other girls in that aspect. _

_I wouldn't have expected that this would be my reaction to finding out Lovegood is in love with someone. I would have thought that I would at least be able to remain indifferent towards it, but to feel the way I feel, it's strange. What has Luna turned me into? She has caused me to relive the most horrible feeling that I have ever felt. This feeling that I can find no proper name for. My heart is aching, my head is spinning at a dangerous rate with thoughts that not only cloud my mind but darken it with gloom. I never knew that you could feel this much pain and suffrage in one's life. Through all the hardships that I have lived through, none of the emotions that I have ever felt are as strong or as damaging as what I am feeling right now. _

_Could it truly be that I have fallen in love with Luna Lovegood? Is that the reason that I am suffering such pain now? Oh, dear Merlin no! I cannot be in love! How could this have happened to me? To me! I who guard my heart and soul with bitterness, sarcasm and scorn; I who have never allowed myself to even think of such as idiotic thing as falling in love; I who am completely incapable of ever receiving such from anyone; there is no conceivable way that I should feel this for anyone. Especially not for a sixteen-year-old girl who is most likely a raving mad lunatic. _

_And if this that I feel is love then let me tear out my heart and no longer feel this horrid emotion. This emotion that makes me incapable of thinking of anything other than her beautiful blue eyes, of her beautiful smile and lovely golden hair. Let me no longer think of her sitting at her desk behind a cauldron, daydreaming like always. I do not wish to feel this, especially knowing that she will never love me in return and that she loves he that I detest so much. I cannot bear the fact that she loves and suffers for him. I cannot live the remainder of my days merely wondering about her life. I want her to leave and depart from my life as soon as possible. I do not care for the hole that her departure shall make, just let it come and let me live the rest of my days as I always have, alone and dead in life._

Luna's eyes where wide open as she finished. She could not believe what she had just read. _PROFESSOR SNAPE_, in _LOVE _with _HER_? That was inconceivable and yet there it was, in _his_ handwriting. He had poured his heart, and suffering soul into the last page of his leather bound book in miniscule and cramped handwriting. Luna could not believe that she could cause such a feeling in someone, especially in SNAPE. Not that she believed that Snape was incapable of falling in love, she believed him capable of that, but not with her. She did not know what could possibly have caused Snape to fall so hard for her.

At that moment Luna felt pangs of guilt for she had just read what was in his heart. It was one thing to read about the bet that he had with Harry and about his day, but it was a completely different thing to peer into what was causing turmoil in his soul. She felt like a trespasser. She could not bear the thought what she had just done. She knew what he felt for her and she knew the pain that she was causing him. Not only that, but he didn't know that she knew. He didn't know that his personal journal was in her possession. She felt terrible; there are no words that would describe how low she felt.

As Luna sat on the floor and stared at the page in the leather bound book she could hear the thud of boots in the hall walking in the direction of her room door. It was than that she knew that Snape was coming to check on her, because the footsteps that she heard where much too heavy to belong to the light feet of a house elf. She quickly tucked the book between the mattresses and she got off the floor. She than threw herself on the bed and through the covers over herself. She closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep; she was not ready to speak to Snape. Not only would she felt guilty for reading what was in his heart, but she also did not want to explain to him why it was that she had gone out the previous night. Although, he had not asked before, she figured that he would eventually.

She closed her eyes and paid close attention to the footsteps. She heard as he walked over to her bedside and stood there for a moment. "Asleep once more? My, isn't she a sleeping beauty," he said before turning away and walking out of the room. His last statement was not meant as a compliment, she knew by the tone of voice that he used when he stated it. It was more of a reference to the old story of the sleeping princess that refused to wake up because she was cast under a spell that could only be broken by the kiss of a prince.

Luna opened her eyes and took in a deep breath. As she sat there staring at the ceiling, trying to sort out her thoughts she remembered what Snape was researching. It was than that it all made sense to her. She had found Snape making investigations about the Love potion and the antidote of Love Potions. He was trying to figure out how to make an anti-love potion. So that he could fall out of love with her and be able to stop feeling all of the things that he was feeling.

Luna didn't think that it was possible to create such a potion. How can one simply erase a feeling so strong? It was impossible. And even if he would be able to create the potion, would not the potion only be temporary. After all humans have the ability to love and therefore, he erased his feelings for her, would not spending time with her bring those feelings about once more? She figured that to make it at all possible for him to no longer feel love for her was for him to create a potion that would enable him to not feel love period. For him to feel love for nothing would be the only way out, in her opinion.

She rubbed her head as she could feel a migraine coming on. She rolled to her side and tried to stop thinking. She figured that at the moment thinking would solve nothing. Besides she really could do nothing about Professor Snape's predicament, even though she felt completely guilty about causing him so much pain. Luna wondered if perhaps offering Snape a hand would help. Would that justify anything at all, or would it simply cause him pain. She than wondered if her staying at his manor was possibly causing him any pain.

Luna turned to look out the window and she could see that the sky was getting dark. She figured that it was perhaps already six or possibly even seven in the evening. She turned away from the window, as there was nothing in particularly interesting to be looking at. At that moment a House elf came in with dinner. "Miss Lovegood must be eating something. You have not eaten in days and you must now eat something," she said as she walked over. As she came closer Luna could see that it was Honey.

"Hello Honey," she said as the house elf placed the tray of food on her lap and sat up on the bed. Honey looked into Luna's eyes and offered her a smile.

"You must eat something Miss Lovegood. You have had us so very worried," Honey said as she looked at her. Luna nodded and picked up her spoon. She was not very surprised by the fact that she was going to be eating soup. She took a spoon full in her mouth and was glad to find that the soup was not too hot and not too cold. It was pleasantly warm and Luna could feel her entire body warm up.

"Honey, do you know if Professor Snape is perhaps angry with me?" Luna asked as she looked at the elf and when she was finally able to speak. She than proceeded to shove more food in her mouth because she was so famished, not that she shouldn't be because after all she had not eaten in a great while. She looked in the elves eyes that where twinkling like stars and a grin came over her small face.

"Master Snape is far too happy that you are alive and well to be angry with you," Honey responded. Luna nodded and continued to shovel soup in her mouth. It was than that Luna realized that she was eating in the bedroom, which Snape had said he wouldn't allow. She looked up at Honey.

"Doesn't Professor Snape not want me eating in the bedroom?" she asked as she looked into her eyes.

"This is an exception for you are still not well enough to leave bed. He himself ordered me to bring you some soup for you to eat in bed," Honey responded. "Did you really expect him to allow you to go down in your current state? The manor is not a very warm place and you could easily become sick once more."

"I guess not," Luna said as she took in the last couple of spoonfuls of soup. "Done," she announced when she was finished. Honey merely smiled at her and picked up the plate. She than scurried away and pretty soon came back with another plate of soup. "What's this?" Luna said as the plate was placed in her lap. Luna sighed and as she was not yet full she continued to eat. Honey merely watched with utter joy on her expression. "Okay I'm done, but don't you run off and get me another plate. I've truly had enough now," Luna said as she looked at the elf when she finished her second plate.

"Well at least you ate something," Honey said as she looked at her. Luna nodded as Honey grabbed the plate and scampered away.

**TBC….**


	13. Part XIII

**A/N:** Song that Luna sings is by Aerosmith called "Lay It Down".  
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**Second Best Part XIII**

Luna woke up the next day and got out of bed. She immediately walked to the shower and took a long hot shower. After so long a time without showering she felt so very dirty and tired of it. When she was done she changed into blue jeans and a long black t-shirt. She put on her shoes and once she was through she walked to the door and went down the stairs. She felt much better than she had the day before and she now felt completely healthy. She immediately made her way to the dining room and sat down to eat breakfast.

"Good morning," she said as she looked over at Snape and took her seat. He looked up at her and quirked an eyebrow before looking down at the newspaper.

"I see that you are back to normal," he said in his usual velvety tone as he looked down at the paper.

"I guess you can say that," she said as she started to eat. She didn't notice when Snape looked up at her and watched her for a couple of moments before turning his attention back to his paper.

"It's nice to see that you have your appetite back," he said once more in his velvety tone. She looked up at him and merely continued to eat. As she stared at him she than remembered what she had read and she could not stop staring at him. She felt guilt, as she looked at him and her eyes slowly unfocused on his figure. She wondered what he was feeling at that very moment. "May I ask what that was all about?" she very vaguely heard him ask as she continued to stare. She did not notice him look up at her and the eyebrow that went up as he stared right at her.

"Pardon?" she asked as she shook her head and focused her gaze on him. He was still staring at her with a raised eyebrow and he seemed to be studying her very intently. Luna found it amazing the way that he could simply hide all of his feelings as if they didn't even exist. She had always found that absolutely fascinating, even though he lost his temper often.

"I was wondering whether you would like to explain why you went out for so many hours and got yourself in such peril," he said as he looked over the table at her. She looked across the table into his black eyes. She stared into them deeply and for several moments tried to see if any motion could be seen. After a long moment of silence she looked down at her plate of food. She began to pick at it; she did not know what she could possibly say to him.

"I am sorry Professor, but you wouldn't understand," she said as she looked at her plate and picked at her food.

"I don't need to understand I just need to know," he said as he looked across the table at her. Luna looked up at him and looked directly into her eyes.

"Well you are no one to demand that I tell you," she said as calmly as possible as she looked into his eyes. As she looked at his face she could see his right brow raise and she decided that she was no longer hungry. "Excuse me I have lost my appetite," she said as she stood up and walked away from the table. Before she reached the door of the room she heard him call her name and stopped in her tracks. She very slowly turned around to face him.

"I am aware of the fact that I am no one to demand you tell me why you did the stupid and idiotic thing that you did, but I think that I at least deserve an explanation," he said as he looked at her from where he sat.

"Thank you for your concern Professor, but I would rather not say. The reason is too personal and you of all people should know that you can't simply trust anyone with how you feel," she said as she looked at him. She could see that this struck a nerve, as he seemed to flinch at the statement. It wasn't much of a flinch, for it was barely visible. He was simply taken aback by her statement, though, she knew not why. "Excuse me," she said as she turned away and walked out of the room.

Luna than slowly made her way to the back doors and when she reached them she opened them. She sat down in the grass near the doors and looked up at the clear skies. It ws a very warm afternoon and the sun was shining down very brightly on the earth. She lay down on the grass and closed her eyes. She tried to clear her mind of all emotions and thoughts, which was always something very difficult for her. Something that she usually did when she was trying not to think was by singing a song. "Ruby red her lips, where on fire. Do me with a kiss if you please. Tell me what your sweet heart desires. Tell me how you want it to be. Cause if it's love you want than you won't mind. A little tenderness that's sometimes is so hard to find," she sang to herself.

"Miss Lovegood what are doing?" he asked as he looked down at her. Her eyes snapped opened as she heard Snape's voice and she sat up. She looked up at him and he was looking at her with a puzzled look on his face.

"When I don't want to think I sing to myself to keep my brain occupied," she said as she looked up at him and he nodded in response.

"What where you singing?" he asked as he looked down at her.

"Lay It Down, by an American muggle band named Aerosmith," she responded as she looked at him. "It's one of my favorite songs and it's the first song that came to my head," she said as she looked at him in response to the questioning look on his face. He once more nodded. At this Luna turned her attention away from him and looked at the forest. "You remember them times, talking in your sleep. With a pocket full of problems, you never could keep. From your best friend's lover you dreamt about in bed. When you pull in under covers of voices in your head. Say if you want it bad, you don't ever let it slip away," she sang to herself.

"Miss Lovegood?" he said. She turned her attention to him once more. "When is your birthday?" he asked as he looked down at her. She stared up at him and wondered why he was asking. She found it strange and she merely continued to stare up at him. She stared at him for a couple of seconds before answering.

"I turn eighteen on December the nineteenth. I was born under the sign of Sagittarius, who are said to love the outdoors, sports and animals. A Sagittarius is honest and philosophical and thought to be restless, adventurous and high-spirited. I must say it is mostly right," she responded as she looked at him. He merely nodded in response. "Why do you ask?" she asked as she looked up at him.

"I was merely curious, but what do you consider to be right about that?" he responded as he stared down at her.

"I love the outdoors and animals, and I am an honest person. I don't consider myself as philosophical; I'd say dreamy is more accurate. I can be restless and adventurous, but to say I'm high-spirited is a bit of an overstatement," she said as she turned to look at the trees. She did not note the way that he was staring at her with utmost interest. She soon turned to look at him. "When is your birthday?" she asked as she looked at him.

"I'd rather not say," he said as he looked at the forest.

"Why not? I won't hold your birthday against you," she said as she looked up at him. He turned his head in her direction and looked into her eyes. He seemed to be passing the idea in his head. Luna really didn't understand why he was making it a big deal that she knows when his birthday is.

"September fifth," he responded curtly as he looked away.

"Virgo The Virgin. Analytical, attentive to details, diligent, shrewd, and critical. Have a tendency to be perfectionist. Virgos are modest and prudent," she recited what she remembered from her first year Astrology class. She continued to stare at the forest for it made it easier to concentrate on what she was reciting. "What would you say is correct about that Professor?" she asked as she continued to stare out at the forest.

"What would you say is correct?" he asked as he stared down at her. She continued to stare out at the forest.

"Well I do believe that you are analytical and a perfectionist, although you must be, there is no room for flaws in potion-making. Also the way you walk implies it, for your steps are always precise. You are attentive to details, I think it is because you merely want to get students into trouble and you must pay attention to details. I do believe that you are hard working and very intelligent, but you are too critical. It may be a good thing, but you do need to let loose a little Professor. You need to learn to relax. Life is not all work and no play. You are also prudent, for it you weren't you would have had a very hard time being Professor Dumbledore's double agent. I would say the only thing that does not describe you is the entire modest thing for you seem to want some type of recognition," she said as she continued to stare out at the forest.

"Do you think it a flaw that I am not as modest as I perhaps should be?" he asked as he stared down at her. He was very interested in what she had to say and he wanted to know what exactly she meant when she said that he was too uptight.

"It is no defect Professor, to want recognition. You are a great Potions master, a brilliant man, and you have helped a lot in the past war. Your flaw is that you are too critical. Apathy is not an emotion it is a numb state of being which does no good to you as a person. You become older faster. You have to allow yourself to feel things and to have some sort of fun," she said as she turned to look at him. "You also shouldn't be afraid of feeling certain emotions and letting those that surround you know what it is that you are feeling. If you show anger, frustration or even love to the world, it does not make you weak. Weak are those afraid to feel, because they can't handle it." She said, as she looked deep into his eyes.

"Who taught you all these things?" he asked as he stared down at her. She looked away from him and stared down at her hands.

"My mum," she responded as she stared at her hands.

"I'm sorry about your loss, it sounds like she was a wise woman," he said to her in what sounded to her as something sincerely empathetic and kind. She continued to stare at her hands and took in deep breaths to calm herself down. She wanted to suppress the anger and depression that was forming within in her.

"I'm sorry too, but I still have my daddy and that's all that matters to me," she said as she looked up at him. There was a look of sadness on his face as he stared down at her. He was feeling pity for her.

"Luna I would like to show you something," he said as he stared down at her. This took her aback a bit. She stared at him for a moment and he soon extended his hand to her to help her to her feat. She merely stared at his hand for a moment before deciding to take it and standing up with his help. He slowly led her back to the house without saying anything else to her. She wondered what he was about to show her.

**TBC…**


	14. Part XIV

**A/N:** James Potter was a Chaser by the books and that is what I am going by. You will understand what I mean when you reach that part.  
****

**Second Best Part XIV**

Luna allowed herself to be led by Snape through the halls of his house and up the stairs to the second floor. He led her down the hall in which her room was, and led her all the way towards his private quarters. He did not say anything to her as he opened the door and pulled her through it. Through the short amount of time she allowed her gaze to quickly look around and capture as much as was actually possible.

The walls of the room where not one single color, although she could not make out it's design and she could tell right away that different hues of red where dominant on the walls. From the brief glance that she gave them they seemed to be covered in paintings, although there where sections of the walls that where completely white and other sections which had pencil markings on them as though they where yet to be completed. The bed was not in the center of the room, but against a corner, and on the wall by the bed there was a large cover placed over it. As though something had been drawn there, but was veiled from sight. The bed itself was a large four-poster with black and red silk covers, pillows and a fancy red coverlet. The only other object placed in the room other than the bed was a full-length mirror.

She could really see nothing else for she immediately was led into another room by a door. When she stepped into the room she found that it was a large room. It was perhaps the largest room of the house. He stood her in the center of the room and the first thing that she noticed that there was no furniture of any kind in the room at all. Perhaps that was the reason it seemed so large and spacious, but the room was amazing nonetheless, for the walls and the ceiling was a work of art. It seemed impossible to her that she could concentrate on a single piece of it, for there was so much to pay attention to.

"Professor, did you do all this?" she asked as she turned her attention to him. He merely nodded in response. At this Luna could feel her mouth drop and her eyes widen more than she had ever thought was physically possible. "Professor this is amazing!" She walked over to the furthest wall on the opposite side of the room. She had picked this wall to look at first for there was a large painting of Hogwarts castle on the topmost left corner of the wall. The castle was perhaps drawn in many shades of blue and black and seemed to be only the upper levels of the castle for there where clouds there. This painting of Hogwarts was perhaps three feet wide and two feet in height.

The shades of blue from the painting of Hogwarts were surrounded by vines from what she knew to be as a depiction of the Whomping Willow. The drawing of the Whomping Willow was magnificent and large. It went from the top of the wall to the very bottom. It took up a large portion of the wall, but there was so much else on the wall. Underneath the Whomping Willow she could what was a lethal looking werewolf. It looked vicious and so entirely realistic that she jumped when she first saw it. It was standing, sort of hunched over with its claws reaching forward, as though it was going to strike at you and it's teeth where bare. In the background of the Werewolf was a large, silver full moon.

Underneath the painting of Hogwarts and the couple of vines seemed to be part of a wall of Hogwarts and there was a life-size drawing of a sixteen-year-old boy on it. The boy was leaning against the wall, so therefore the viewer could only see his profile. The boy was handsome and had black hair that casually fell into his face. The look on his face conceded arrogance, for it had a splendid smirk on it. She knew that this boy was not someone she knew from school and she could see that he was in Griffindor because of the crest that could vaguely be seen from his cloak. Before him stood a life size drawing of short, chubby boy with blonde hair who seemed to be admiring the other. Next to him stood another boy, who looked charming in his tattered, loose fitting clothing. He had a book in hand and was looking down at it with a look of concentration on his face, his brown hair falling into his amber eyes. Luna than knew whom she was looking at and from what era these drawings came from. The background was that of the setting sun, with hues of orange, yellow and red.

"Is this from when you attended Hogwarts?" she asked as she slowly turned from the picture to look at Snape. He merely nodded as she soon turned back to the wall to continue to look at it. She was absolutely fascinated. "Who are these three boys?" she asked as she looked at them.

"The first is Sirius Black, the chubby boy is Peter Petigrew and the last is Remus Lupin," he answered curtly. Luna merely nodded, she had assumed that's who they where. The details and shading of the paintings where simply splendid. A photograph couldn't have done a better job capturing it. She walked over to look at the other side of the wall on the other side of the Whomping Willow.

Flying through the branches of the tree, on a broomstick and clothed in the Griffindor Quidditch robes was a boy that looked exactly like Harry except with Hazel eyes and without the lightning bolt shaped scar. She assumed that this was James Potter, his father. In the clutch of his left arm was the Quaffle. There was a pompous grin on his face and he had unruly hair that seemed to go in ever which way. Underneath this she could see a girl standing next to the tree with her arms crossed over her chest and she was rolling her green eyes at the boy overhead. She was a redhead from Griffindor and as Luna stared at her she knew that this was Lily Evans, Harry's mother.

"Is this Lily and James Potter?" she asked as she stared at this.

"Yes," he responded from somewhere behind her. Luna turned her attention to what was next to this. There was a tall man, with short black hair standing in a menacing position. He was drawn life-size and was perhaps the height of Severus, to whom the man had a striking resemblance. You could only see the profile of his face and he seemed about ready to strike at the cowering figure on the floor, which Luna than turned her attention to. It was the form of a woman on the floor, she was propped up on her elbows and looking up at the man before her with a look of fear on her face and she seemed to be begging for mercy. Tears where painted streaming down her face. Standing on the other side was a sixteen-year-old boy who looked angry and outraged. He had greasy, black, shoulder length hair and a protruding hooked nose. Luna immediately knew this was Snape, standing up for his mother against his father. This was drawn and painted in neutral shades and was surrounded in black, to show the darkness of this theme.

The last space of the wall was covered in what was an enlarged painting of a photograph. She recognized all the people in the picture right away and she knew them to all be in Slytherin. It was Lucius, Narcissa, Snape and Professor Sinistra as they where when they where about sixteen or Seventeen. In the background she could see the platform and Hogwarts express and she knew that the actual photograph was taken before boarding the Hogwarts express home. Luna guessed that these where the people that Severus had perhaps once considered the closest people he had to friends.

"Professor Snape, why did you wish to show me this?" she asked as she turned to look at him, but he was not paying attention. He was currently rubbing his left forearm as he stared up at the ceiling. Luna looked up and her eyes where drawn to the largest drawing in the entire ceiling, placed right in the center. It was of an 18 year old Snape writhing in pain with his left forearm exposed where the Dark Mark was. There was a green color surrounding all of Snape's form, as though he where floating by some sort of spell. This was one of the many scenes portrayed on the ceiling of Snape being tortured. Luna guessed this was some of the occasions in which Voldemort had tortured him. There were perhaps about twenty drawings of different shades and colors on the ceiling of Snape being tortured, all of different shapes and sizes.

Luna turned away from the sight, but her eyes fell upon something that was just as painful to look at. She could see the wall of Snape's childhood and it saddened her to see that there was nothing happy about it. There were several scenes of his father beating his mother and of a small Severus crying in the corner of the room. There were some were Severus was the one that was being beaten. All of theses where drawn in black and white unless there was blood in the scene in which he had actually used red for it. There was one in particular that seemed gory and it was of a young Severus lying unconscious on his back with his arm bent in a direction in which it was not to be bending. The bone was sticking out of the skin and there was blood coming forth. His nose and mouth was bleeding and there seemed to be dried blood in his hair. There seemed to be a stab would underneath one of his ribs.

Luna covered her mouth and could feel tears forming in her eyes. It was a small wonder that Severus even made it past his childhood years. Luna started to shake involuntarily as she could see scenes of what she pictured his childhood to have been like passing before her eyes. Her knees soon buckled beneath her and she placed her hands over her ears and closed her eyes tight. She started to rock back and forth and started to sing to herself because she did not want to think of his nightmare childhood. She sang as best she could but her voice shook and sobs escaped from her throat. "99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer. Take one down and pass it around, 98 bottles of beer."

Snape's attention immediately turned to her as she fell to the floor and started to rock back and forth with her hands to her ears. He stared for a moment in confusion, but soon heard her signing and sobbing at the same time. He strode over to her and kneeled down before her. "Luna," he said as he tried to pry her hands from her ears, but Luna was pressing down hard. "Luna," he said when he took her hands off her ears. She looked up at him with tear filled eyes and stopped singing.

"Make it stop, make it all go away," she pleaded as she looked at him. She threw her arms about him and buried her face in his shoulder. He froze in her embrace, but soon embraced her as she continued to sob. He rubbed her back in an attempt to calm her down and tried to speak to her.

"Luna it's all right, calm down," he said calmly as he talked to her, but Luna continued to sob. Snape picked her off the floor and carried her out of the room, closing the door behind him. He walked through his room and closed his door behind him. He made his way down the hall and placed her in her bed and he pulled out a vial from his robes and placed it in her mouth. Luna immediately calmed down. He stared down at Luna who had turned pink and looked away from his gaze. She sat there in the bed with her legs pulled up to her chest and she hugged her knees to herself. "Luna you must tell me what is wrong with you. You cannot continued to have breakdowns of this sort," he said as he looked at her.

"I can't," she said as she stared at the wall and closed her eyes, wanting to forget the black and white wall with the morbid images of torment. Snape grabbed her face gently and turned her face so that she would look at him. As she looked into his face there was a pleading look in his eyes and a look of true concern written in his expressions.

"Luna I am begging you, I need to know what is troubling you because you can't continue to have episodes that might be hazardous to your health," he said in a pleading tone of voice. "I promise you that I will not harm you in anyway and that I will not use what you tell me against you," he said as he looked into her eyes. Luna stared at him for a moment and looked down at her hands.

"What do you want me to say?" she said as she stared down at her hands. "I don't know what it is that you want to know."

"Why did you allow yourself to come in such danger the other day by running out for hours and making yourself so sick?" he asked as he stared at her.

"I didn't mean for it to happen, I merely wanted to be alone and take a walk. It started to rain when I was in the forest and since it wasn't too cold I didn't want to come back in yet. But it got colder and darker and I lost consciousness in the forest," she said as she stared down at her hands.

"But you seemed depressed on that day, you also woke up in the middle of the nights yelling and crying. Why?" he asked as he stared at her for a moment.

"I dreamt of the day my mother died and when that happens I sometimes get a little depressed," she responded as she looked at him in his eyes. He stared at her for a moment.

"Yes, but when you where younger you wouldn't get that depressed about it," he said as he stared at her. She could feel tears very slowly begin to form in her eyes as she thought about her mother and the way that she had committed suicide. Luna didn't understand why she had done it and that was what had caused her to become so depressed.

"What where you told the cause of death of my mother was?" she asked as she turned to look at him. He seemed to be taken back by this question.

"I was told that she had an accident in her lab with a spell that went wrong," he said as he looked at her.

"Yes, I thought so to, until I reached my fifth year," she said as she stared at him.

"What do you mean?" he asked as he stared at her.

"I was there, I witnessed what happened. I was coming down into the lab to get spend some time with my mother. I was nine years old at the time," she said as her eyes unfocused and she started to reminisce. "I came down and I could see my mother standing upright with her back facing me. She said something, a spell that I did not know when I was younger, but I know it now. There was a large flash of green light and she was dead before her body even hit the floor. I lay there with her dead form for hours and I cried myself to sleep. I witnessed m father fall to his knees crying for he had lost his wife," she said. Her eyes soon focused and she turned them to him. "We learned about the unforgivable curses and I knew that my mother had not had an accident. She had commuted suicide and I didn't understand why," she said as a few tears escaped her eyes. "Why did she do it? What did she find so hard that she could not continue living? Was I not enough for her? Did she not love me? These damn questions have tortured and they have no answers," she said as a stream of tears came forth, but she suppressed the sobs and her throat hurt from it.

"Luna I didn't know," he said as he stared at her.

"No one does," she said as she buried her face in her arms. She started to rock back and forth and she no longer wanted to think of it. "99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottle of beer. Take one down and pass it around, 98 bottle of beer," she said as she cleared her mind of all thought. She soon felt two strong arms wrapped about her form and soon realized that Snape was hugging her. She wrapped her arms around him and she could not stop the sobs from coming. She could not stop the tears.

**TBC…**


	15. Part XV

**A/N: **Despite the fact that I have read the sixth Harry Potter book I'm still going to try to finish this story because I love Snape. Sorry about taking so long to update. But Anyway Please Read and Review.

Second Best Part XV 

Luna woke up in the next morning at the break of dawn. The warm sunlight was filtering into her room. Luna sat up in bed, as she could no longer sleep. She looked to her right and was very much surprised to see that Severus Snape was asleep in a chair next to her bed. From what she remembered of the previous night was that she was rocked to sleep in the arms of Professor Snape.

Luna blushed at the fact that she'd been rocked to sleep. She felt even more embarrassed by the fact that the paintings of his childhood had triggered an emotional breakdown. Luna ran a hand through her blonde hair and tried very hard to stop blushing, but she was thoroughly embarrassed about how very sensitive she'd become ever since she fell in love with Harry Potter. Before he came along, things like this never happened to her. She was even more embarrassed by the fact that she had opened up to Severus Snape. It seemed insane that she would do such a thing.

"Miss Lovegood, what are you doing awake so early?" Luna turned her attention and to her surprise Professor Snape was awake. She stared at him for a moment in thought and she could still feel her cheeks burning. She smiled weakly as she looked at him. She wondered why he'd woken up so suddenly. It seemed somewhat strange that he would just wake up. After all it was not like Luna made much noise when she woke up.

"I'm very sorry about yesterday, that doesn't happen often, I really don't know what was wrong with me. Actually I'm embarrassed that you saw my like that. You must think I am very foolish and sensitive," Luna said as she continued to blush and she looked away. The heat in her face made her feel like she was sticking her face in an oven that was just opened. She looked down at her hands and played with the coverlet. She was sure that by now her face was as red as the Weasley's hair.

"You have nothing to be embarrassed about Miss Lovegood. I should have not showed you that room in the first place, I don't know what I was thinking," Severus said as he stared at her. Luna could feel the heat fading and slowly turned to look at him. She smiled at him weakly and brushed her blonde hair behind her ear. She then found that he was staring at her in a slightly dazed fashion and found herself lightly blushing once more.

"Professor Snape, do you mind if I ask you a favor?" Luna asked as she looked down at the covers and once more started to fiddle with them. She found that it was strange that he was still calling her Miss Lovegood after what happened the previous night. It seemed that after the personal information that they told each other about each other's lives that it seemed strange that he would still refer to her so formally. "Will you just call me Luna?" Luna asked as she turned her attention to him. He slowly nodded in response to her request.

At that moment Luna realized how early in the morning it was and she through off the covers and walked over to the window next to her bed. She stood at the window and watched the way the rays of the sun extended towards the sky. From beyond the dark woods that surrounded Snape Manor she could see how the rays of the sun were reaching out to the sky to brighten up for a brand new day. "What are you doing Miss Love… Luna?" Severus asked from where he was sitting. Luna slowly turned to look at him and smiled.

"Professor, come here," she said motioning for him to walk over. He reluctantly stood up from where he sat and walked over to where she was standing. She grabbed him gently by the arm and pulled him closer to her and pointed outside the window towards the rising sun. "Look, the sun in rising. Have you ever seen anything more beautiful in your life before?" she asked as she looked out the window.

"Beautiful," he said, but he was staring down at Luna. He loved the way the rising sun cast a light on her. She looked absolutely beautiful. He slowly turned his attention to what she was pointing out and felt warmth spreading throughout his body. It seemed so strange that Luna could make him feel so alive. It seemed as strange as she was. He found there was a very beautiful look on her face as he stared into her face. It was a look of awe and adoration. It seemed so strange that this very happy looking chills was not so happy a couple of hours ago.

"It's beautiful, a small miracle. I don't understand what was so hard about living in this life that she could not bear to continue living. I know that if you look around the world you can't see anything good in it, but there is so much to live for. You just have to take a deeper look and really appreciate the small things," Luna said as she looked out the window. There was a twinkle in her gaze, but despite the fact that she was speaking about her mother, she was not depressed by it. "Sunrise and sunset are small miracles that people take for granted. The rain is beautiful even if many people don't think that way about it. Walking barefoot in the grass and scrunching your toes in the dew, walking barefoot on a beach, feeling the wind blow through your hair; it's all taken for granted. I don't understand."

Luna turned to look at him, as if searching for an answer, but Severus was thinking about what she said as staring out into the dawn. "I've never very much thought on the subject Luna. You've opened my eyes. No one takes the time because they are far too busy with their lives to notice anything around them. They spend their time feeling sorry for themselves and thinking that the pain that they feel won't go away. They give up because they can no longer go on," Severus said as he stared out the window, there was a very solemn expression on his face and his voice was very soft.

Luna continued to stare up at him and wondered why it was that he had not given up on life with all that he saw and all that he lived through. "You are very strong Professor, to be able to withstand all that you have lived and still continue to try in this life," Luna said as she looked up at him. She admired him for still being able to continue living his life and not giving up, especially when nothing in his life seemed beautiful or worth living for. Snape very slowly turned around to look at her and turned away, walking away from the window.

"Yes, but look what my life has made of me. I'm not exactly the most pleasant person to put up with," he said, every word dripping with disdain towards him. Luna stared at the back of him as he walked away and walked towards the door. She wondered if he was all right, and thought about his words. She wanted to say something that would comfort him. She walked over to him and placed a hand on his arm and he turned around to stare down at her.

"If you stopped concentrating on the negative aspects of your personality, you would see that a good heart beats beneath your chest," she said as she stared up at him. "You may not be the warmest person in this world, but you are caring and considerate. You've taken very good care of me and your concern of me was genuine. Not may people actually do care about me."

Severus found himself staring into Luna's beautiful eyes and felt his heart beating rapidly within his chest. Her small hand was still resting on his arm and he felt something fluttering inside his stomach. He wondered why it was that Luna was being so very kind with him for lack of a better word. "You're very unique Luna, and so is your viewpoint of me. Undoubtedly you are the only one that feels this way, for I assure you there is no other in the world."

"You shouldn't care so much about what other people think of you. It doesn't matter; their thoughts are most insignificant because they don't know who you really are. Besides, people tend to look for the bad in people before they look for the good," Luna said as she removed her hand from his arm and looked down at her hands. She found that his gaze was very intent and she hated the way it felt like he was boring through her soul. Luna looked up into his eyes and saw a glimpse of a sad glint in his dark, penetrating gaze. "It looks like it will be a very pleasant day, would you care to take a walk outside, and get some fresh air before you start your day?" Luna found herself asking, though, she did not know why.

"Well… actually I was going to go down into the lab…"

"Come on Professor, it's very nice out and I really think that we both need some fresh air," she said as she looked up at him and smiled. He reluctantly found himself nodding in response and soon felt his arm once more in her grasp and she dragged him out of the room, down the hall, down the stairs and into the back. Together they walked through the forest as she sun was coming higher into the air, filtering it's golden light among the trees. Severus was very tense and Luna clung to his arm as they made their way through the forest and she spoke to him of her summer vacations and how her father would take her to see various places in the world.

Severus slowly began to ease as she spoke to him and he soon found himself actually engaging in conversation and asking her questions about the many things that she had seen. He soon found that their conversation had turned to Hogwarts and she was telling him about her grades and her thoughts on Professor Trelawney. He also found himself interesting to hear that she loved astronomy and that she loved the names given to stars. She found her telling him that if she were to pick a name for a child she would name him after a star.

"Luna, what do you plan on doing after Hogwarts?" Severus asked as they continued to make their way through the forest. Luna merely shrugged in response.

"Perhaps a medi-witch or perhaps I will just go into the family business. I'm not sure yet," she responded as they continued their walk. By now they were starting to make their way back to his manor. "I know I have the marks to be whatever I want, but I'm not sure what I want. I think that if I were to try and become a medi-witch, they would think that I lack the concentration and severity to be one."

"Tonks lacks these things as well and yet she's still an auror," Severus said as they continued to walk together. Luna merely shrugged her small shoulder in response. At that moment her stomach growled and Severus stared at her. "I believe that we should get you back so that you can eat something. I think that I'm becoming hungry myself," he said as together they made their way back to the manor. For once, it truly seemed to Severus like it would be a good day.

TBC… 

**A/N: **Well sorry for the short chapter. I'll try to write something else soon.


	16. Part XVI

Second Best Part XVI 

Luna made her way through Snape's Manor, wondering what she was going to do for the rest of the day. Shortly after finishing breakfast she went up to take a shower while Professor Snape said that he was going to head down to his lab. Now she was walking around with nothing to do. She slowly made her way towards the library, thinking about her morning and her long conversation with Professor Snape.

Luna never expected that she would get along with Snape the way that she got along with Remus Lupin. Actually, her relationship with Professor Snape was different and more personal than the relationship she had with Lupin. After all she had never before confided in Lupin about the way that her mother died. As far as Lupin knew, Luna's mother died when she was young in a horrible accident.

The other difference was that she felt something completely different for Professor Snape than Lupin. When she saw Lupin, she would not get butterflies in her stomach, she would not feel warm when Lupin grabbed her hand, she did not feel happy to talk to Lupin about just anything. It seemed so strange that she had become close to Professor Snape. That Snape actually revealed to her things that she expected he would never tell any other student. Snape had confided in her in a way that Professor Lupin never had.

She wondered what was wrong with her to feel so giddy when seeing or spending time with Professor Snape. She'd always been fascinated with him. She just loved to listen to him speak in classes ever since she was a first year. She also always loved to see him brew his potions and she loved to imitate him, perhaps that was the reason that her marks were so high in his class. She was able to watch him the entire time and mimic his every move. She also loved the way that he walked, how he was so poised. As far as she knew, Professor Snape never stuttered or stumbled. It seemed that he was perfect, though she could see his imperfections.

When she was a second year she took to studying his face and compared it to it in her first year. The Chamber of Secrets had been opened in her first year and she noted how many of the teachers seemed worried, and despite the fact that she knew that Professor Snape was worried, she could find no trace of it in his features. The difference was that once she was in her second year, she could tell that he'd always been tense and angry. She knew that it had a lot to do with the disappearance of Sirius Black. Professor Lupin explained to her that he once attended school with Professor Snape and Sirius Black and he explained to her that they did not get along well at all.

Even in her third year, her fascination with Professor Snape grew. It was in that year that Professor Snape finally, really noticed her. He'd noticed her in her first year, he told her that she was the best in her year at Potions, however, his attention was very brief for it was always on Ginny Weasley for she was acting very strange in their first year (which was do to the fact that she opened the Chamber of Secrets). He also loved to try and humiliate Ginny, for she wasn't anything very special at potions and there were some occasions were she would completely blotch her Potions assignment.

In her third year, it seemed that he noticed her everyday, though, Luna did not truly understand why. Luna guessed that it was because she was sitting next to Ginny Weasley and Snape suspected that Luna was always helping Ginny with her potion, which wasn't at all far off base. Luna always helped Ginny in her potions that year, perhaps that was the reason that Ginny became nicer to her and tried to befriend her, even after class Ginny would sometimes ask Luna to help her with her potions essay.

Luna could specifically remember the Yule ball. She'd been asked by some very pathetic boy in Hufflepuff, he was a fourth year who apparently had no idea how Loony she was. He'd ditched her once they'd gotten inside for a very unpleasant fourth year Slytherin girl told him about Luna. But Luna really hadn't cared. She just remembered running into Professor Snape and she was very elated when she heard a compliment coming from his lips about her. Actually it wasn't much of a compliment but it was as close as Severus Snape would come to a compliment. His exact words were; "Miss Lovegood, is that really you? I hardly recognized you, you actually look normal."

His attitude towards her was always to either ignore her or compliment her on her potions. It all changed when she was a fourth year. He seemed to take notice that she'd become acquainted with the famous Harry Potter and seemed to find it a better use of his time to insult her for it. He seemed to refer to her as the newest addition to his entourage, something that she secretly resented.

"Miss, this has just arrived for you," Luna shook her head to snap out of her reverie and looked down and found large sparkling eyes staring up at her. A small house elf wearing a black pillowcase was holding out a letter to her. Luna looked down and slowly took the fancy white envelope with the sparkling golden calligraphy writing on it. Her name was written in sparkling gold and in perfect, curvy, handwriting.

"Thank you Turtle," Luna said as she looked into his green eyes. He merely smiled and scurried away quickly. Luna slowly opened the envelope and pulled out what looked like a very beautiful invitation. In the same gold calligraphy she found that there was to be a wedding on the following weekend and that the ceremony would take place around midday on Hogwarts grounds. Luna was pleased to see that Tonks and Remus were the couple that were to be wed and was pleased by the fact that she was invited.

"I see that you've received one as well," Luna looked up to find that Professor Snape was standing before her. Held in his hand she could see an invitation. She smiled as she looked at him.

"Will you be attending the wedding Professor?" Luna asked as she looked up at him. The look on his face told her immediately that he was not at all pleased to be invited and that he was slightly confused by the fact that he was invited in the first place. However, it seemed that there was a somewhat resigned look in his stance.

"Originally I would not be planning on attending, but if I do not take you there is no other way of you going, is there? I'm afraid that I will have to," he said as he looked down at her. She smiled as she looked up at him. Before she really knew what she was doing she had thrown her arms about him. His arms were pinned to his side and he froze in her grasp. His entire body was tense as she hugged him and repeatedly thanked him. However, she wasn't holding him for too long before he managed to release his arms and extract her from him. "Yes well, I'm sure that you need a distraction from being here for so long."

Luna merely smiled as she looked up at him. "Thank you Professor." She said as she looked up at him.

TBC… 

**A/N:** Sorry for the short chapter. Please Review.


	17. Part XVII

Second Best Part XVII 

"You look so much like your mother. Why are you here Luna?"

Luna looked through the bars and into the cell; she'd just arrived at Azkaban. It seemed strange to her that those would be the first words out of Lucius' mouth when she came in. She's expected that he would perhaps say something else, perhaps comment on the person who'd just walked in with Luna.

Lucius Malfoy looked much different now than the last time she'd seen him. His beautiful, long blonde hair was in naps. Beneath his stunning gray eyes there were dark bags. His face had aged much in the time that he's spent in Azkaban. He looked considerably thinner and weaker. He was currently sitting on his stone bed, leaning against a wall behind him.

"I actually came to talk to you about her," Luna responded as she looked into the cell at the man that once imbedded fear in so many people. Luna looked down at her hands over her long silver cloak. She was standing close to the bars of the cell; Professor Lupin was standing against the wall looking into the cell with disgust. However, Luna hardly took any notice at all that there was someone else in the room with her.

"Ah, I see. I was wondering if you would ever come around to ask me about her death. I assume that you've finally found out the truth," he said. Luna walked closer to the bars and held them in her hands. Lucius Malfoy continued to stare into her eyes from were he sat. His knees were nearly brought up to his chest; his arms were resting on his knees. Despite the fact that he looked so decrepit in his once fine clothing, he still managed to speak as regally as ever.

"Well that isn't the only reason that I came, but it is most of it. But I was also wondering why you treated me like I was a normal human being when I was at your home. Everyone else treated me like a child, an invalid or a lunatic, but you treated me like a normal human being. I was always curious to know why," Luna said as she looked into the cell. Lucius stared over at her, thinking about what she said. Luna guessed that he'd never truly thought about it.

"Like I said Luna, you are a lot like your mother. I remember when we were growing up; she was a lot like you. I was very fond of her," he said. A look of surprise came over her face and Lucius immediately noted this. "Do not be so surprised Luna. She was my baby sister. I am not as cold as you may think. I did love your mother very much; she simply disappointed me when she married that Larry Lovegood. It seemed like such a shame. I treated you, very much the same way as I treated her, I hoped that you would make the right decision and have more sense than her, but by our pleasant company I can see that you are in fact your mother's daughter."

Luna turned around to look at Remus and could see that he was glaring at Lucius. She'd almost forgotten that he was in the room with her. He'd gone early, right after breakfast to go pick her up at Snape's Manor. They left very soon after his arrival and came straight towards, Azkaban. They had not yet exchanged many words with each other. Luna turned back around to find that Lucius had his eyes closed, as if he was trying to remember something. There was a small smile in his face. "What was she like when you were growing up?"

"She looked exactly like you, except her blonde hair was straight like mine. She was brilliant, but of course, like you she had a couple of screws loose. She walked around the same way that you do, like your floating in a dream," Lucius said with his eyes still closed. There was a small fondness in his voice. He than opened his eyes and looked over at Luna. "She was very graceful, however, our mother despised the way that she always spoke in riddles. Our mother wasn't much of a thinker and didn't understand her. But I did love to see her try. We got along well, but became estranged when I went to Hogwarts. She hated me when I got married. I think she hated me more than she hated Narcissa. But of course we disowned your mother as soon as she married Lovegood."

"Do you know why she did, what she did?" Luna asked as she looked into the bars.

"You were young to understand it than and I think that you are too young to understand it now," Lucius responded as she looked at him.

"I don't care, I just need to know." Luna said as she looked at him.

"All right, if you really must know, but I don't mean to disillusion you my dear," he said as he looked up at her. "I don't understand why, but your mother was desperately in love with your father. She fell entirely too hard for him, a great disappointment she got when she found out the truth of her little saint, but of course I'd warned her of this. As you already know, no one in our family wanted your mother to marry Larry Lovegood, but do you know why my dear?"

"Because he did not come from a wealthy family like my mother," she responded as she looked at him. Lucius shook his long, thin, index finger while shaking his head at the same time.

"The Lovegood family was far better off than you think, my dear. It was a very respectable family until your father scandalized it," Lucius explained. Luna was somewhat confused, so Lucius went on. "You're father was disinherited by the Lovegood's because of a very colorful rumor that was spread about him. It was never fully confirmed, but why else would Larry Lovegood be disinherited when he was your grandfather's eldest and favorite son?"

"You didn't wish my mother to marry my father because he was disinherited by an otherwise decent family. Just for a simply rumor. What rumor are you talking about?" Luna said with her brows furrowed.

"It's no rumor my dear, because if it were truly a rumor, your mother would still be around and I wouldn't be explaining this to you," Lucius said as he looked into Luna's eyes. "It's such a shame, she could have been spared had she married who our family wished her to marry."

"I don't understand, what rumor?"

"The Lovegood family was respectable, however, Larry Lovegood was not a respectable suitor for someone of high society. We didn't want her to marry a black sheep, but your mother would not listen. She refused to believe in the rumors about Larry Lovegood and she fell deeply in love with him. When she married him all connections with her were severed. The only people your mother had were you and your father. Your father proved to be a disappointment, proved the rumors about him to be more than rumors. Your mother simply couldn't take it," Lucius said as he looked at her.

"What was the rumor Lucius? Tell me!" Luna said as she was becoming frustrated and she wanted to know the rumor. She also wanted to know how her mother found out it was true. However, the grave look on Lucius' face told her that she would not know.

"I'm sorry Luna, but I cannot tell you. I love you, though, I've never showed it and I do not want to be the cause of your pain. This is something that you must speak with your father. It is best that you hear it from him, rather instead of finding it out from me," Lucius said as he looked into her eyes. She could hear sincerity in his voice and see that it was shining from his eyes as well.

"Just tell me, please," she said as she looked at him.

"Luna, I think that he is right. You should hear it from your father," Lupin said as he came forward and grabbed Luna by her arms lightly. He pulled her away from the bars. At that moment a guard escorted them out of the cell, but Luna was too busy thinking on what Lucius had said and was racking her head for an answer to her question. What was so horrible about her father that drove her mother to suicide? She wondered if perhaps she truly wanted to know.

"Do you know what it is? Do you know my father's dark secret?" Luna asked as she looked over at Lupin. She than noted that they were sitting in the Knight Bus. Lupin had a very thoughtful expression on his face, and it was than that Luna knew that Lupin had not known it before but he'd just figured it out. There was a very grave expression in his face.

"Yes I do believe that I know what Lucius was speaking of, but I believe that it is best that you find out through your father," he responded as he looked down at her. Luna stared at him and tried to take her mind off the dark matter for it was causing her to have the beginnings of a major headache.

"Are you excited about your upcoming wedding?" Luna asked as she looked into his amber eyes. A smile spread across Lupin's face. It seemed that he was happy for the change of subject.

"I'm nervous about the wedding, but I'm completely sure about the marriage. Will you be coming to the wedding? Tonks and I would really love it if you were there," he said with a small smile on his face. Luna smiled at him brightly.

"Well Professor Snape said that he would take me, I'm really looking forward to seeing Ginny again. It's nice to see other people other than Professor Snape," she responded as she looked up at him.

"So how has your time been with Professor Snape? I do hope that he's been treating you well," Lupin said as he looked into her eyes.

"Professor Snape has been great, of course it took him a bit to get used to my presence. Surprisingly enough, Professor Snape and I are getting along," she said as she looked at him. Lupin merely nodded in response.

"Well that is good to hear. Luna, you do know of course that Harry will be attending the wedding. I hope that it doesn't affect you," Remus said as he looked at her. Luna looked out the window and thought about it. She then turned back around to find that Remus was staring at her with concern.

"This is the first time that I've thought of Harry in a long time. I think that I've finally moved on. I haven't thought of him in a long time and now that I come to think of it, I don't really care anymore," Luna said as she looked up at Remus Lupin. He stared down at her in thought. After a moment of considering what she said, he smiled at her and nodded.

"That is good to hear Luna," he said as he looked at her.

**TBC…**

**A/N:** Sorry for the short chapter, but there will be more. Hopefully someone is actually reading this. Please leave a review and tell me what you think.


	18. Part XVIII

Second Best Part XVIII 

Luna walked in through the front door and was surprised to see that Professor Snape was standing in the entrance hall. There was a severe look on his face as he stared at her. She looked over at him and wondered why he was waiting for her to arrive. She wondered why he was staring at her and soon found that he was clutching a letter in his hand. "Perhaps it won't be necessary for me to accompany you to the wedding. It seems that your father will be able to come and take you home this afternoon," he said as he looked over at her.

"I'm going home?" Luna asked as she looked at him. She was shocked that she was going home. She wasn't at all prepared to go home.

"It appears so. You should perhaps go up and start packing. Sky has done all your laundry and Honey will be taking up all your laundry for you to pack it," Snape said as he looked over at her. Luna continued to stand where she was and was vaguely aware of what he was saying. She was too busy thinking about everything that she'd been told by Lucius to really think about what he was saying. She was wondering how she'd be able to treat her father the same way with knowing that he had a dark secret that caused her mother her life.

Luna walked past Professor Snape and unconsciously made her way up the stairs. She was lost and confused and she was unsure of how she was going to handle everything. She wondered how she was going to confront her father and how she would react when she found out about what really happened to her mother. She ran a hand through her hair as she made her way into her room and started to pack her things. She was unaware of the fact that Professor Snape had followed her up the stairs. She soon had her entire trunk packed and ready.

Luna slowly turned around to look at Professor Snape. He was simply standing in the doorway with the same severe look on his face as he stared at her. Luna stared at him and jumped when she heard a very loud doorbell ring. "He's here," she said as she looked over at Professor Snape. He merely nodded in response at that moment a house elf popped in. It was Chocolate.

"Mr. Lovegood has arrived," he announced.

"Thank you. Please take Miss Lovegood's trunk downstairs," Snape said as he looked down at the small elf. It nodded and at that moment the trunk floated into the air and disappeared out the door after Chocolate. Luna looked over at Snape and looked at him in a thoughtful way and thought about the book that was still safely hidden beneath her mattress. She stared up at Professor Snape and she felt pity that she was leaving him alone in his manor. She turned away from him and walked over to the bed and she bent over and took out the leather bound book.

"This is yours Professor," she said as she walked over to him. His eyes were fixed onto the leather bound book and his eyes sparkled with horror. However, his face remained neutral and his eyes did not show a trace of anger. She walked over to him so that she was close and placed the small leather book in his hands. "I've only read an entry or two, I'm very sorry. I understand your reason for trying to create an anti-truelove potion, but it wouldn't be worth it Professor Snape."

"How long have you known?" he found himself asking, his voice was shaking, but not in anger. He was very pale.

"For a while. Please take care of yourself Professor Snape," she said as she looked up into his eyes. She reached up and placed a kiss on his cheek, before walking past him and making her way down the stairs. She soon found that her father was standing at the bottom of the staircase.

"Pudding! It's so nice to see you! I've missed you. How have you been? I trust that Professor Snape has been taking good care of you," he said as she reached the bottom of the staircase. She found that her trunk was no longer at the bottom of the staircase and figured that it had been sent home ahead. She walked over to her father, which was about Professor Snape's height and felt his arms around her. Her father had wavy, crimpled hair. Very much like her, except his hair was a darker shade of blonde. His eyes were the same shade of blue as hers and her mother. "Well are you ready?"

"Yes," she said as she looked into his blue eyes. At that moment she turned around and found that Professor Snape was standing at the top of the staircase and all the House elves were lined up in front of her. Luna kneeled down on he floor and said goodbye to all the elves, but she hugged Turtle, and Honey, however Ebony did not allow herself to be hugged. She wasn't the type to give into affectionate things. Snape however did not move from the top of the staircase, he merely nodded down at them.

Luna turned around to her father and allowed him to lead her towards the door. She thought about her home and turned around on the spot and soon popped out of Snape's home. She opened her eyes and found herself standing next to her father. They were standing in their living room, which was a somewhat large room with a couple of couches and a large desk with magazines strewn all over the table.

"Dad I went to see Lucius today," Luna said as she turned to look at her father. His brows immediately furrowed and the smile on his face faded from his face. "I need to know why mom killed herself. I need to know what rumor she found out was true. I need you to tell me because Lucius would not tell me everything because he thought that it should be you to tell me."

"Why did you go see Lucius?" his father asked her as he turned away from her and walked over to his desk. He sat down on the desk and looked over at her.

"Because I thought that it would do me good. I can't go on living my entire life thinking that she killed herself because of me. I know that it is your fault now and I need to know why I was deprived of my mother. What horrible secret were you hiding from her?" Luna asked as she stared at him. His eyes were starting to look like crystals as he looked away from her. He couldn't bear her gaze.

"You need to understand Luna, that despite everything I did love your mother, but I just simply couldn't give her everything," he said as he turned his gaze to look at Luna. "I never intended for anything to happen and I never intended for your mother to get hurt."

"What happened?" Luna asked as she looked into his eyes.

"I did love her immensely. We married because we were young and foolish and she was a month pregnant with you and we wanted to become a family. We were blissfully married for a couple of years, but I was never completely happy because I was suppressing who I really was," he said as he looked at her. Luna stared at him and tried to think about what he was talking about. Luna stared at her father and thought hard about what he was talking about.

When she was younger she remembered that her father used to spend a lot of time at work. She especially seemed to remember that her mother would at times complain that he was spending far too much time at work and it seemed that he liked to spend his time with his Jr. Editor, Daniel, rather instead of being with his family. Luna then turned around to look at the ceiling, trying to remember the last months of her mother's life. She remembered that she could hear her mother and father arguing quite a bit in this very room. She also remembered that she heard the name Daniel a lot.

Daniel worked in The Quibbler as the Junior Editor for as long as she could remember. He was a pleasant person who was about her father's age, or perhaps a couple of years younger. He was very sweet and nice to her; he used to treat her like she was a little princess. In fact, when he came over that's what he called her. He was thin and tall, with black hair that was always neatly combed back. He was a very neat person and he was always wearing fine suits, though, now that she thought about it, she didn't know how he wore such fine looking clothing. After all Daniel wasn't paid enough. Daniel was very pale as well, had wide lips and eyes the same color of Honey the house elf.

Daniel was her father's best friend. In fact he came to the funeral and he seemed to be as distraught as her father was. He was there to console her father and he always told her father that it was not his fault and that things would work out just fine. After her mother's death, Daniel came around often. He took very good care of her and her father, especially her father for he seemed to be very sick for days afterward. Luna always thought that Daniel was a very good friend to her father for taking such good care of them.

It was than that something clicked in her head and she looked over at her father. "Daniel … Daniel was your… you're a homo… you're homosexual!" Luna said a she looked at her father in the eyes. She shuddered at the thought and turned away from her father and found herself throwing up. She truly had nothing against gays, but she was offended because her father never loved her mother. She was offended because Daniel was her father's lover and all that time she'd thought he was just being nice, but in fact he was doing it because he was in love with her father. She felt betrayed. She couldn't even begin to imagine how her mother felt. And it was then that it hit her. How did her mother know for sure? Unless she'd …

Luna started to throw up even more then she'd previously. "Luna, I'm so sorry that you had to find out this way, but I didn't want you to think of me any less because I love you," he said as he walked over to her and grabbed her hair. Luna straightened up and pulled away from her father and wiped her mouth off with her cloak and threw her cloak off. She looked over at her father, her eyes narrowed at him in anger.

"She caught you and Daniel, didn't she? That night we had the Christmas party and everyone from The Quibbler came. You and Daniel were missing for a long time from the party, but no one other than mum took any notice so she went looking for you and she found you and Daniel having intercourse. Didn't she? That's why she locked herself in the washroom all night long and refused to come out. That's why everyone left early and she was yelling at you while crying," Luna said as she looked into his eyes.

"Yes that's what happened but Luna, please try to understand my…"

"She was depressed for many months after that and she couldn't take it anymore so she finally killed herself. How could you dad?" Luna asked as she looked at him. He merely stood there, unable to say anything. Luna merely turned away and walked out the door. She turned right and made her way up the staircase and straight to her room. She didn't want to see him again. She slammed the door shut behind her and locked the door.

**TBC…**

**A/N**: Sorry for the short chapter, but please leave a review. Also I fully support gays and lesbians. I'm very open-minded, though, I wish I could say the same of my family. Oh well.


	19. Part XIX

Second Best Part XIX 

Luna absolutely refused to get up from bed. She couldn't eat and she couldn't sleep anymore. She was so hurt by what her father had done to her mother. She absolutely refused to speak or even look at him. She locked herself in her room and refused to leave it for anything. She lay in bed and stared up at the enchanted ceiling, which was bewitched to reflect her mood. When she was depressed it would look like a cloudy sky, like it was at the moment, when she was happy it would be a clear, sky blue.

She felt so confused and betrayed by her father, but she soon came to realize that was not the only thing that was bothering her. She felt lost by the fact that she had nobody to talk to and she was longing to speak to Professor Snape. She needed someone to talk to. It was than that she realized what day it was.

Luna got up from her bed and walked over to her closet. She pulled out pale silver dress robes and walked into the washroom. She took a quick shower and put on her dress robes. She straightened her hair and put make up on her face. She looked more alive than she had in the past day or two. She had not eaten or slept in the past day and she felt weak. However, the thought that she would soon be with people she missed dearly lifted her heart up.

Luna walked out of her room and thought about Hogsmead station. She turned around on the spot and soon found herself standing in the edge of Hogsmead station. "Luna, is that you?" Luna heard a familiar voice say. Luna slowly turned around and as she spotted the red head walking quickly towards her she found a large smile spreading across her face. Ginny Weasley was wearing lilac dress robes and her flaming red hair was tied in a fancy bun.

"Hello Ginny," Luna said as she felt her friend's arms thrown around her. She held Ginny close and could feel the large smile on her face. As they pulled apart, Luna found herself staring into her friend's dark eyes. A long way behind her, Luna could see the rest of the Weasley family making their way up towards them. "Where are your parents?"

Luna could see Fred and George walking along together, they were both wearing flaming red dress robes. Ron was walking behind them, but he was wearing black dress robes. She soon spotted Bill who was also wearing black dress robes and under his right arm was Fleur, his wife, wearing splendid, crystal blue dress robes. Percy Weasley, who was surprisingly with the Weasley clan, was wearing dark green dress robes. The last person that her eyes saw was Charlie Weasley, who looked very fine in his black dress robes.

"They came earlier than us, but you never mind that. You look splendid Luna. How was your summer Luna? Was Snape horrible?" Ginny asked as she looked at her friend's eyes. However, before Luna could answer any of her questions she couldn't say anything.

"Oy Lovegood, hardly recognized you," Fred and George said simultaneously.

"Hello Luna," Percy said as he came to stop next to the twins who were behind Ginny.

"Zat is Loony Love'ood? Zat broke 'is 'eart?" Fleur said as she pointed at Luna.

"Luna, dear," Bill corrected his wife as a sheepish smile came over his face. They were standing next to Percy.

"Hey Luna," Ron said as he made his way through with Charlie, each once standing on each side of Ginny. "You look great!"

"You do look lovely," Charlie said as he looked down at her.

"Thank you," Luna said as she looked at them.

"Excuse me but I was trying to have a conversation here!" Ginny said in an exasperated way. At that moment everyone walked past them, everyone except Charlie. Ginny turned her attention to look at her older brother. "Yes?" she asked as she looked over at him.

"You can talk to Luna later, I would like to talk to her right now," he said as he grabbed his sister by the shoulders and gently pushed her forward. She looked over at her shoulder at him and narrowed her eyes at him. When she was out of ear shot Charlie looked down at Luna. "You truly do look lovely Luna," he said as he looked down at her. She looked up into his eyes.

"Thank you so much. You look very handsome yourself," Luna said as she stared into his eyes. He smiled and looked down at his feet.

"Thank you. Shall we?" he asked as he extended his arm to her. Luna looked down at his arm and reluctantly took it. He than led her towards Hogwarts, they both walked in a very leisurely fashion. "So how has your summer been? I trust that staying with Professor Snape has not been too much of a traumatic horror," he said as he looked down at her with a weak smile gracing his face. Luna looked down at her feet.

"Actually he was not as hard to deal with as you might think him to be. I guess you can say that I got too used to the dark gloom of his manor and the many house elves. Actually I thought that it was amusing that his elves were so well spoken. I think that they have better English than Fred and George," Luna said as she looked up at his eyes. He chuckled lightly as he heard and smiled down at her. "But how are you doing?"

"Well that's nice to hear. Well I've gone back to working with the dragons. The dragons are great. They really are providing me with company ever since Ginny and Ron heave gone back home. They did provide me with some amusement after you left, they were simply trying too hard to cheer me up again," he said as he looked forward. Luna looked down at the floor. She blushed lightly at the thought of what happened not too long ago.

"I'm very sorry if I did break your heart like Fleur said. I truly never meant to hurt you," Luna said as she stared down at the floor. She looked up to find that Bill was staring at her with the same smile on his face and he merely shook his head.

"It's fine Luna, it's merely a small price to pay for falling in love, especially with someone so beautiful and lovely as you," he said as he looked at her. She merely smiled as she looked down at the floor. They continued to make their way towards Hogwarts, Luna looked ahead and found that they'd fallen behind so far back that she couldn't see any of the other Weasley's but she really didn't care. "Are you going to be okay with seeing Harry? I can see that there is something bothering you."

"Something's troubling me, but it's not what you think. To tell you the truth I have not thought about Harry in quite sometime. When I used to hear his name my heart would race and I would get butterflies in my stomach, but that doesn't happen anymore. I guess I feel very indifferent towards him now," she responded as she looked into his eyes. He stared at her and nodded in response.

"What is it that is bothering you than?" Charlie asked as he looked into her eyes.

"I guess it's simply the fact that I do not know the reason why I no longer think of Harry. It's slightly confusing and unnerving," she said as she looked up into his eyes.

"Could it possibly be that you have found someone to replace him in your heart?" he asked as he looked at her. She looked up and looked ahead to find that they were steadily nearing Hogwarts gates. She then turned her attention to Charlie who was still staring at her with his intense, dark brown gaze.

"Well if I have, I don't know who it is," she responded as she looked up at him. "Perhaps it is a mistake for me to try and fall in love with someone else."

"First of all Luna, you do not control the heart and who you fall in love with. That's a lesson that takes quite sometime to learn. Another thing Luna is that you are far too young to give up on love, after all, how can you consider a loveless life, living?" he said as he looked down at her with the same small smile on his face.

"It doesn't get any easier, does it?" she asked as she looked up at him. He smiled down at her as they started to approach were the ceremony was taking place.

"No it doesn't, but you learn to appreciate love and take the good with the bad. All you can do is hope that you're relationship will end up like Tonks and Remus'," he said as he looked down at her. She looked up at him and found that they were both standing in the middle of the long isle. There were two columns of seats, one on each side of the isle and all the way on the opposite end of the isle stood Dumbledore.

Luna looked around and found that the first row was filled with mostly Hogwarts teachers and the two behind that one was filled with the Weasley's. On the other side everyone in the Order of the Phoenix, there were so many that some of them took up the rows behind the Weasleys. Luna found herself staring at Charlie who was looking around. "How do you know so much about love Charlie Weasley?" she asked as she looked up into his eyes with a small smile. He looked down at her and smiled.

"You learn a lot when you grow up and have had as many pointless relationships as I have had," he said as he looked down at her. He placed a kiss on her forehead. "Don't give up hope Luna," he said as he turned around and walked away. He made his way to the row were his family was sitting and sat down next to Ginny. It was than that Luna noted that Harry and Hermione were both sitting with the Weasleys. Luna continued to look around and soon spotted a very familiar pair of penetrating black eyes staring at her. She than felt a large smile spread across her face as she made her way over to him and sat down.

"Hello Professor Snape. How are you?" she said as she looked at him. He stared at her for a moment before responding. Luna found that he actually looked handsome with his hair cleaned and neatly combed with his black dress robes.

"Fine. You look very lovely," he said as he looked at her. She blushed lightly and could feel her heart skip.

"Thank you very much. You look very nice yourself," she said as she looked over at him. She smiled broadly as she looked into his eyes. "I thought that you weren't going to come."

"Originally, but Professor Dumbledore insisted that I come," he said as he sighed in exasperation. She smiled as she looked at him. "How have you been Miss Lovegood, you were behaving strangely the night that you left," he said as he looked over at her.

"I've been away for two days and you go back to calling me Miss Lovegood?" she said as she looked away from him and sat back, staring down at her hands. There was a tint of sadness in her voice. He looked over at her and thought that she looked far too crestfallen.

"What's wrong Miss Love … I mean Luna," he said as he looked over at her. But at that moment Remus made his way through the isle and up to were Dumbledore stood were he stood in front of Dumbledore wearing brand new, black dress robes.

"I don't think that we should talk about this right now, we should be celebrating," Luna said as she looked into his eyes. It was then that she could hear the music. She turned away from Snape and looked towards the isle to find that Tonks was standing in all her white splendor at the top of the isle. She looked absolutely beautiful in her white dress. She had her hair a mousy brown color and it reached the small of her back. A white veil was over her face and she had a bouquet of white roses in her hands. Everyone stood up at the sight of the bride. "Doesn't she look lovely Professor?" Luna said as she looked at Tonks fondly.

"If you say so," he said as he looked at Luna. "Luna I need to talk to you about what you read in my journal." Luna slowly turned around to look at Snape. She looked down at her hands as she looked at him.

"Professor Snape, I had no right to flip through your personal life. I'm very sorry that I did what I did, but you don't have to worry about me telling anyone what I read," Luna said as she looked down at her hands and looked away from him. "I won't tell anyone and if you wish I will simply pretend like I did not spend any time in your manor," she said as she continued to watch Tonks. She soon felt a hand on her face lightly turning it. She looked up and found that she was staring into his black eyes.

"That's not at all what I was going to say. I find that I no longer care if anyone knows, but I know that to think that you would love me in return would be preposterous, but I would simply prefer it if we could treat each other as we have the past week," he said as he looked down at her. She smiled as she looked up at him and wrapped her arms around him.

"Of course," she said as she pulled away.

TBC…   
A/N: I'll try to post again soon. Please Review. 


	20. Part XX

Second Best Part XX 

Luna stood up along with everyone else at the end of the ceremony and clapped as hard as she could when she saw Tonks and Remus kiss. It seemed to be the cutest thing that she had ever seen. She turned to her right to look at Professor Snape who looked slightly sick and was clapping very unenthusiastically. Luna furrowed her brow in thought, and wondered why Snape was so queasy about Tonks and Remus' marriage, but paid it no mind and turned to look at the bride and groom walking down the isle.

Luna turned around to look at Professor Snape as everyone was starting to walk after the bride and groom towards Hogwarts. They were making their way towards the Great Hall were the reception was going to take place. "Professor Snape, are you all right? You look a bit sick," Luna said as she looked into his face. He merely shook his head and stared down at her.

"I'm fine, Luna. I presume that we should follow everyone towards the Great Hall," he said as he looked down at her. She nodded in response and turned around and made her way towards the isle, she could here Professor Snape walking after her. As they made their way towards the isle Harry and Hermione were walking by, their arms were linked together as they made their way.

"Luna! Where have you been? Ginny's been looking for you," Hermione said as she stopped in her tracks and turned around to look at Luna. She faced her with a very friendly smile. Hermione's hair was in loose, but neat curls and was tied in a fancy, half ponytail. She looked very lovely with her pale pink, dress robes. Harry was wearing deep set of green dress robes that set off his eyes.

"Hello Hermione, Harry. I came with Charlie and I sat in the back with Professor Snape," she responded as she looked into Hermione's eyes. Harry looked very cold and indifferent as his gaze turned from Hermione to Luna to Snape. He soon found himself glaring up at Snape, however Hermione didn't seem to notice this. She turned her gaze from Luna and looked over Luna's shoulder to stare up at Snape.

"Hello Professor Snape. How are you?" Hermione said as she looked into Snape's eyes.

"I've been better," he responded curtly as he looked into Hermione's brown eyes.

"Why were you sitting with Snape?" Harry said as he looked at Luna. Luna turned her gaze to look at Harry.

"Try and be civil Harry," Hermione said as she looked over at Harry, but Harry paid her no attention and continued to stare at Luna.

"Why not?" Luna responded innocently as she looked into Harry's eyes. Harry looked up at Snape with suspicion, before turning his gaze to Hermione.

"We should be heading up to the castle with the others," he said as he looked at Hermione and than he turned his gaze back to Luna. "It was very nice to see you again Luna, we'll see you later."

"Later Luna," Hermione said as she was gently dragged away.

"That was the strangest thing I've ever experienced, and I've experienced very strange things." Luna said as she turned to look at Snape to find that he was still glaring at the back of Harry's head. Luna wondered if Snape had heard her well. She gently placed her hands on Snape's arm and gently shook him out of his reverie. "We should be heading to the castle as well Professor Snape."

He merely nodded in response and together they made their way towards the castle in silence. The walked in through the large oak door and made their way through the entrance hall until they reached the great hall. It was very elegantly decorated and all of the table's were round and seated around six people. "Well Luna, I fear that I must join my colleagues," he said as he looked over at the table were some of the teachers were sitting. Luna looked around and found that Ginny was waving at her and pointing at an empty seat next to her.

"I think that I'm being called over," Luna said with a smile on her face as she looked over at Ginny. She then turned to look at Snape who was staring down at her. "Professor Snape, do you mind if I speak to you a little later. There is something that I wish to talk to you about," Luna said as she looked over at him. He merely nodded in response to her request. "Thank you very much, I'll see you later than, Professor," she said with a smile as she turned away and bounced away. Luna made her way over and sat down next to Ginny.

"Where were you? And why were you talking to Professor Snape?" Ginny asked in a whisper as her friend sat next to her, but before Luna could response she found that someone was calling out her name. She looked over at Mr. and Mrs. Weasley who were sitting across from her. At that moment she realized that she saw sitting in between Charlie and Ginny. On Ginny's other side was Mr. Weasley, next to him was Mrs. Weasley, next to her was Percy and next to him was Charlie.

"Luna, sweetheart, how are you?" Mrs. Weasley said kindly as she stared at her. Luna looked at Mrs. Weasley and smiled warmly at her, unable to say anything.

"She's fine mum," Ginny responded for her and turned to look at Luna. "You haven't answered any of my questions!"

"Well my summer was fine, Professor Snape is not a horrible person. He didn't do anything to me. I got to the ceremony at the same time as Charlie, but I stayed behind and when I saw Professor Snape I decided to sit in the back with him. I was talking to him to make polite conversation. It wasn't anything important, Ginny," Luna responded as she started to eat. "So how was your summer?" Luna asked as she looked around.

In the table near there she spotted Hermione and Harry sitting next to each other, but she could only see the back of their heads. On Harry's left sat Ron, next to Ron was Fred, next to Fred was George and to Luna's surprise the last chair at the table was occupied by Neville Longbottom. Luna wondered why it was that she had not seen Neville at the ceremony. Luna than looked at the table on the other side, but the only people she recognized was Bill and Fleur Weasley.

"It was boring, but I guess that was to be expected," Ginny said as she took a sip of the drink before her. However before she could drink much of what was in her glass, Mrs. Weasley took it away from her and sniffed it. "I was drinking that mum," Ginny said as she looked at her mother.

"You _were_ drinking it, you will not anymore. You are still not of age to be drinking liquor," Mrs. Weasley said as she looked over at Ginny.

"But mum, I'll be of age in a week!" Ginny said as she looked over at her mother.

"But until you are of age you will not be drinking anything with the least amount of alcohol," Mrs. Weasley said sternly.

"That's not fair! Why does Luna get to drink it!"

"I'm seventeen with seven months," Luna said as she took a sip of the goblet before her.

"You're older than I am?" Ginny asked no longer feeling angered, but surprised as she looked over at her friend. Luna merely nodded and continued to drink from her goblet. Ginny gave up in trying to reason with her mother and simply drank whatever it was her mother was willing to let her drink. The meal was over very quickly that Luna as surprised when Professor Dumbledore asked everyone to stand so that they could have a dance floor for the Bride and groom to dance their first dance. Everyone sat at the tables, which had all been pushed closer to the wall to create a dance floor big enough to have at least forty couples dancing at one time.

"Excuse me," Luna said as she got up from the table and made her way towards the refreshments table, all the while hearing a familiar tune from the Weird Sisters. It was dark in the Great Hall, so only Ginny noted that Luna had gotten up and she'd followed her to the refreshments table. Luna and Ginny spent most of the time that Tonks and Remus were dancing by the refreshments table, both drinking whatever they were offering Luna. By the time their dance was over and everyone was clapping, she and Ginny had downed 6 goblets filled with Firewhiskey. They had to share because Ginny was not allowed to get any from the person handing out the drinks.

"Maybe we should make it back to the table," Luna said as she looked over at Ginny. However Ginny was chugging the seventh goblet and was unable to speak until she finished. When she was done, she lightly wiped her lips off on her sleeve and looked at Luna.

"At this point, I think that it is best that we avoid my mum," Ginny responded.

"Why, because we'll be in trouble?" Luna asked.

"No, because she'll ruin the buzz that I've got going," Ginny responded and she and Luna started to giggle. She gave Luna the goblet and Luna soon noted that there was nothing in it.

"I'll be back," Luna said as she took a couple of steps towards the refreshments table. "Refill, Firewhiskey," Luna said as she gave the guy the goblet. He recognized her by now and knew better than to ask her age. He gave her back the filled Goblet and Luna walked away from the guy and towards Ginny, who was standing with her back against the wall and looking past the tables at all the people dancing. Luna took a sip and handed it to Ginny. "Have you congratulated the Bride and groom yet?"

"No, but I haven't had the chance," Ginny responded as she took a gulp of the Goblet, but at that moment her eyes widened in horror. "It's McGonegall. I'll see you later," Ginny said as she handed the goblet to Luna and strode away as quickly as she could. McGonegall walked over to Luna and looked down at her with a stern look. She was wearing Green robes and as always her hair was tied in a tight bun.

"Miss Lovegood, are you drinking?" McGonegall asked as she stared down at her.

"Just a little, but I'm of age," Luna responded as she looked up at McGonegall.

"Give it here Miss Lovegood," McGonegall said sternly. Luna sighed and handed over the goblet to McGonegall. "I don't want to see you by the refreshments table again Miss Lovegood. You're fine right now, but anymore drinks and you will be drunk," McGonegall said. Luna nodded and walked away. She made her way through the crowd and soon bumped into Charlie.

"Where have you been?" Charlie asked as he stared down at her.

"Refreshments table," she responded as she looked up at him. He nodded in response.

"Just don't let mum see you tipsy. You many be of age and you may not be her daughter," but she's sure as hell treat you like you're her baby," Charlie said as he looked down at her. Luna nodded in response. "Would you like to dance?" Charlie asked as he stared down into her eyes. Luna nodded and followed him onto the dance floor. She figured that the night was young and the party was just getting started.

TBC… 


	21. Part XXI

Second Best Part XXI 

After an hour of dancing with Charlie and three more Firewhiskey's later, Luna was tired and wanted to rest. She walked over to a table and sat down, it took her a while to realize that she wasn't sitting on a chair, but she was sitting on a person. She stood up once she realized and turned around to see whom she was sitting on and found that it was Harry. "I'm terrible sorry Harry, I thought you were a chair," she said as she looked into his startling green eyes.

"I'm guessing you've had too much to drink as well, you're the second person that thought that I was a chair," he said in a depressed manor. Luna stared down at him and for that moment she felt completely sober. She could tell that Harry had not had anything to drink, but he looked very sad and she felt an extreme amount of pity for him. Luna looked around and wondered where Hermione had got off too.

"Where's Hermione?" Luna asked as she stared down at Harry. Harry merely looked past Luna onto the dance floor and with a single index finger pointed something in the crowd out to her. Luna slowly turned around to look at Harry was pointing at and found that her eyes soon landed on a single couple dancing on the dance floor. Ron and Hermione were both slow dancing holding on very tight to each other. Luna could see that Hermione's head was resting on Ron's shoulder and that there were tears glistening in her eyes. Ron was holding on tight to Hermione whispering something in her ears.

Luna continued to stare at them, wondering why Hermione was crying and why Ron was holding on to her so closely. She wondered if perhaps Harry had broken off his engagement with her and Ron was simply trying to console her. However, as she stared she began to think of their long years at Hogwarts. As far as Luna could remember, Harry had never shown any interest in Hermione until their seventh year. He'd never been concerned with the fact that Hermione had a relationship with Krum, he was never concerned with who she spent her time with, however, Ron did. Luna always thought that in the end Hermione and Ron would be together. Now that she stared at them, she could see that's what happened.

Luna slowly turned around to look down at Harry and could see that he was holding his head in his hands. Luna grabbed a chair and pulled it in front of Harry and sat down before him. She gently pulled his head out of his hands and forced him to look into her eyes. Luna could see large, fat tears welling up in his amazing eyes and she felt an extreme amount of pity for him. "We've been lying to ourselves for a long time, she's always been in love with Ron and Ron has always been in love with her," Harry said as he stared into Luna's eyes. His voice was small and Luna could hardly hear it over the Weird Sisters music, for Dumbledore had gotten them to play for Tonks, after all Tonks loved them.

"I know that you are hurting Harry," she said as she looked into his eyes. She could feel a bit of sadness begin to creep into her. Her buzz was gone. "I know what it feels like to be in love with someone, and they are simply in love with someone else," she said as she looked down at her hands. Harry stared at her, finally beginning to understand how hurt Luna really felt when he told her he loved Hermione. He knew that he'd taken her for granted. "But things turn out just fine Harry. It simply takes time to heal your wounds. I'm not saying that they will vanish and you won't feel them anymore, but I'm saying that you'll be able to live happily despite the fact that they've never gone away."

"I'm sorry for what I did to you Luna. I didn't really understand what you felt, until now," he said as he looked up into her eyes. Luna stared at him and tried her best to smile at him. She gently reached over and tucked a strand of black hair out of his face.

"It's okay Harry. I've learned to live with it and so will you. It just takes time," she said as she was starting to remove her hand from his face, but he reached up and closed his hand around hers. He leaned his head into her hands and closed his eyes. Luna could see a large tears escape from his eyes and roll down his face. Luna could feel her eyes tearing up at the sight of him so distraught. It tore at her heart to see him so heartbroken, to see him suffering for someone. All she wanted was to take away his pain. "Harry, please don't cry," she said as she looked into his face.

Harry opened his eyes and looked into her face. Luna sat on the edge of her chair and wrapped her arms around him. Harry immediately wrapped his arms around her tightly and buried his face in the crook of her neck, sticking his face in her hair. She could feel his hot tears wetting her hair. She could feel the way his body shook with the sobs that he let loose. It seemed to her that she was holding onto him forever, before he finally calmed down and pulled away from her. He stared into her eyes and before Luna knew what was happening she felt his soft lips pressing against her.

For a moment, she was shocked, but her heart started to melt into him. His lips were soft and warm, but before she let herself enjoy it, something inside her was dying. She felt sharp pain and hatred towards herself for what she was doing. She felt like she was doing something wrong, but not because Harry had just broken up, but because she felt like she was betraying someone that she deeply cared about.

Luna pulled away from Harry and stared at Harry in shock and surprise, her hand raised to her lips. Before Harry could say anything she'd gotten up and ran away from were he was sitting, running back towards the refreshments table. Once there she asked for a goblet of Firewhiskey and chugged it down and asked for another. She could feel tears building up in her eyes, but she continued to drink until she had dulled the pain that was building inside her, pain that she did not comprehend.

When Luna finally walked away from the refreshments table she had lost count of how much she had drunk. She couldn't walk well anymore and her vision was somewhat blurred. She felt like the room was shaking and she felt migraine coming on. She made her way towards the door, while leaning on the wall. All the music that she could hear on her way out sounded much more like noise than anything else. When she was finally out of the Great Hall, she closed the door behind her and was relieved by the fact that the doors muffled all the sounds that were coming from the Great Hall.

She walked a bit away from the doors and soon slid down the stone of the walls to sit on the floor. She tucked her legs beneath her and leaned her head against the walls, closing her eyes to everything. She was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to fall asleep and soar into a dream. However, she was at least pleased with the fact that she was too tired to think of anything. For the first time in a long time, her mind was completely blank of all thought. She could steadily feel a smile slipping across her face.

"Luna?" she vaguely heard someone say.

"Hmm?" she said tilting her head. She slowly opened her eyes and it seemed to take a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the dark hall, and took a little longer to adjust and focus as best they could on the figure that was staring down at her. She could feel her lips twist into a small smile as she looked up at him. "Hello Snapey," she said as she looked up at him. He merely stared down at her for a moment.

"I take it that you've had far too much to drink," he stated as he stared down at her. He crouched down next to her. He wrapped his arm around her waist and hoisted her up to her feet. "I should take you home," he said as he stared down at her. Her eyes were closed but at his statement she jerked away from him and her eyes snapped open. Her brow was furrowed over her glassy eyes.

"No, not home. I don't want to go home," she said as she stared at him. She looked wired and somewhat hysteric. Severus stared at her in thought. Luna was trying her best to back away from him without tripping, however, she stepped on the end of her dress and fell backwards. She started to giggle as she lay on the floor and tried her best to sit up. Severus rushed to her side, wondering if she was all right.

"Are you all right Luna?" he said as he stared down at her.

"'All right'? Me no hurt because I fell," she said as she stared into his eyes with her glassy eyes. He was crouching down next to her, holding her up in a sitting position. He was very close to her. Her eyes suddenly looked large and sad. She looked down at her hands. "My heart feels sick. Daddy hurt me so much," she said in the voice of a wounded child as tears started to spring up in her eyes and gently race down her face. "Why does it hurt so much?" She asked him in the same child-like voice as she pointed to where her heart rested beneath her chest.

Severus stared at her and could feel his heart begin to break as he stared at her. He'd never felt so much pity for someone as he did now. She was silently crying, tears sliding down her face. Not a single sob could be heard from her. Severus stared at her; she looked like a wounded child more than anything else. He felt his heart melting at the sight of her. She looked fragile and for once she didn't seem to be crying hysterically, but silently, which he found most heart breaking.

"Luna, come along. We'll go get you cleaned up," he said softly as he stood up and brought her up. Once she was standing up he started to walk with her, but her knees soon buckled beneath her as she finally succumbed to her exhaustion. He caught her before she fell in his arms and carried her light body down towards the Dungeons to his private quarters She'd lost a bit of weight from her lack of eating.

As he walked in through the locked door he walked past the sitting room and towards his bedchamber were he laid her down on his large four-poster bed. His bedchamber was far plainer than his room in his home. It had no paintings or drawings on the cold, dark, stonewalls. The bed, wardrobe and a chair by the window were the only things in his room. He placed a warm blanket over her body, for the dungeons were quite cold, even if it was summer. He made his way out of the room and into the adjacent washroom where he pulled a vial from his cabinet and brought it over to Luna.

He administered the liquid before pulling up the chair by the window and sitting down in the chair next to the bed. He stared at the peaceful Luna and knew that he would be waiting for quite sometime before she would wake. He looked down at his watch and found that it was just past midnight. He stared at Luna and found that she looked lovely. He reached over to the nightstand by the bed and pulled out a leather bound, hard book and a charcoal pencil and started to draw to pass the time in his sketchbook.

TBC… 


	22. Part XXII

**A/N: **Hopefully you are still enjoying so far and your reviewing. Please keep reviewing if you're reading it. Say absolutely anything please.

Second Best Part XXII 

"You're finally awake, I thought that you would never wake up. It's nearly six thirty in the morning," he said as he looked at her. Luna stared at him and sat up, running a hand through her hair, which was still straight. She was surprised that it was still straight, for the charm usually lasted no more than a couple of hours. She looked about her surroundings and figured that she was in his private quarters in the dungeons of Hogwarts castle.

"I'm very sorry about putting you out of your bed. I guess that exhaustion finally overcame me. I haven't been sleeping well, actually, I haven't slept at all since I've been back home," she said softly as she turned around to look at him. He stared at her and his brows furrowed in concern. Luna stared at him and felt exhausted still, like she could continue sleeping forever. She was so tired and she couldn't believe that it was already morning. It felt like she hadn't slept at all.

"Why haven't you been sleeping well?" Severus asked as he stared at her. She yawned as she stared at him. "If you wish you may lay back down and go back to sleep."

"Professor Snape, do you have something that I could perhaps wear? These dress robes are really quite binding and I am very fatigued and tired," she said as she looked at him. He furrowed his brows and thought. Luna figured that he would perhaps have nothing to accommodate her, but she was happy to see that he would at least try; for he got up from the chair that he was sitting in and walked over to his wardrobe. He stared inside for a moment, his back turned to her before turning to face her.

"I'm afraid that I only have long sleeved, button up shirts," he said as he stared at her. She ran a hand through her hair and let a smile slip across her face.

"Anything would be preferable to this," she said pointing to the beautiful yet binding dress robes that she was wearing. She no longer had the blanket covering her. He merely nodded and grabbed on of his shirts and through it onto the bed. Luna reached for it and got up from the bed, making her way to the door, which she was sure that would lead to the washroom.

"What shall you wear beneath?" he asked as he stared at her. She stood in the doorway and looked over at him.

"I always wear shorts beneath my robes," she said as she looked over at him. She walked into the washroom and through of the dress robes and that placed his shirt on her, buttoning up the buttons. She was pleased that his shirt was warm and that it smelled so pleasantly; something like cinnamon. When she was done changing she looked down at herself. The shirt was a bit too big. The bottom of it nearly reached her knees. As for the sleeves, they nearly covered her entire hands.

She opened the washroom door and walked out. She than made her way towards the bed and sat down once more, pulling the blanket over her and she stared at him. He was once more sitting in the chair beside the bed and staring at her in a somewhat peculiar way. Like he wanted to laugh but at the same time seemed somewhat embarrassed. Luna smiled as she looked at him. "Do you wish to go back to sleep?" he asked as he stared at her.

"Actually I've been wanting to talk to you ever since I've been home. I'm not sure who else that I could talk to," she said as she looked into his black eyes. However, she did lay down, despite the fact that she meant to speak to him. She curled up her side somewhat and looked over at him. Her tucked her hair behind her so that she could see into his face. He was staring at her and wondering what she wanted to talk to him about. "Do you know of the rumor that surrounds my father?"

"Yes," he responded with much pause.

"I went to ask Lucius the reason why my mother killed herself, I thought that at least her own brother would know the reason why. I needed to know because I could no longer live with the thought that it was because of me that she killed herself," Luna said as she looked away from him. Her eyes focused on the stonewall behind Snape. Her eyes were steadily building up tears, yet her voice remained calm. "Lucius told me that it no simple rumor, that my mother found out the truth about my father and it killed her."

"Luna I… I don't know what to say," he said as he looked at her. She looked over at him.

"Neither do I. He's deceived me for so long, and I understand that it was of fear of what I would think of him, but it still hurts so much. If he knew what he was, than why did he use my mother that way?" Luna said as she looked at Snape. Her voice was still calm and the tears in her eyes were refusing to roll down her beautiful cheek.

"Perhaps you speak with your father and try to sort it out," he said as he looked down into her eyes.

"I will, but it will be a long time before I decide that I am ready to do that. I'm not sure that I want to go back home at this point. I really have no wish to encounter my father once more. I need time to think and sot it all out first," she replied as she looked at him. Snape nodded in response, finding that what she said was very reasonable. Severus Snape soon lost himself in thought. Thinking about the previous night.

"Is that the reason why you drank so much last night?" he asked as he stared at her. She rolled around in the bed on her back and held her sides as she giggled. She then turned around once more and looked into his deep eyes with a smile on her face.

"Actually that was partly Ginny's fault. She got me going, she also left me alone to deal with McGonegall," she said as she looked into his eyes. He merely shook his face and looked down at his hands. She knew that he was trying to conceal his amusement. After a moment he once more returned to stared at the young enchantress that was lying in his bed. And as he stared into her eyes, he found that there was a strange glint in them that told him that Luna was no child, that she was in fact a woman.

"Well did you at least enjoy the wedding?" he asked as he looked into her eyes, brushing away his previous thoughts. She nodded in response.

"It was the first time that I have eaten well in quite sometime and have spent time with people. It was great. I am, however, disappointed that I didn't speak to Tonks or Professor Lupin the entire night. I guess that I was being maintained to busy for it," she said as she looked into his eyes. She was smiling a very small smile and her eyes were sparkling but she was quite calm.

"Yes, I noticed," he said as he looked down at his hands. Luna thought that she saw a sparkle of some dark feeling in his eyes, however, she didn't have much time to see for he immediately looked down at his hands. She furrowed her brows at this. He soon looked back up at her with his usual neutral mask. "You don't have to worry about not having been able to say anything to Tonks or Remus. I've heard that many of the people that attended the celebration were planning to spend their night in the castle and leave after breakfast today."

"Do you think that anyone noticed our disappearance?" Luna asked as she looked into his eyes. He looked into her blue eyes before saying anything.

"I'm sure that the Weaseley's and Harry noticed you were gone, but I don't believe anyone noticed that I'd left, not that they would have found it strange if they had," he said as he looked at her. There was something strange in the way that he said Harry's name that made her once more furrow her brow as she stared at him.

"I'm sure," Luna said as she looked into his eyes. "Harry was quite distraught about the break of his engagement with Hermione. I very much doubt that he was in the right state of mind when he decided to steal a kiss."

"Steal?" he asked as he stared at her while raising a brow. Luna sat up and played with the blanket between her legs, which were crossed Indian style. A serious and solemn expression came over her face as she played with the things before her.

"Yes, I had no desire in kissing Harry. I think that my heart has long moved on from him. When he kissed me, I felt like a part of me died. It was a horrible amount of pain, like I'd betrayed someone. It felt like my heart was tearing," Luna said and with the last sentence she clutched at the shirt she was wearing, over her heart and a look of pain came over her face. Snape stared at her and wondered why it was she felt like that when Harry had kissed her. He would have thought that she would've enjoyed it.

"Does you're heart perhaps belong to Charlie Weasley?" he asked as he stared at her. She turned around and looked into his eyes.

"Charlie has a soft spot for me, he confessed his love for me the day that you picked me up from his home. Even he chanced stealing a kiss and was heartbroken when I turned away from him. However, there is nothing between he and I. He is not the one that resides in my heart," she said as she looked into his eyes. He merely nodded in response and looked down at his hands. "I do not know if anyone does," she said as she lay back down and stared at the ceiling.

TBC… 


	23. Part XXIII

Second Best Part XXIII 

Severus woke to the sound of knocking on his door and sat up on the leather couch in his sitting room. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he looked at the table and saw that it was nine in the morning and that they were beginning to serve breakfast in the Great Hall. The time had been moved to nine for Dumbledore figured that no one would wake up early after the celebration of the previous night.

Severus furrowed his brow and wondered who would be disturbing him. He ran a hand through his hair and stood up. He stood up from the couch and straightened out his clothing. He soon made his way towards the door and opened it only to find that Mrs. Weasley, Ginny Weasley, and McGonegall were all standing at his door. He stared at them and his eyes immediately narrowed. "Yes?" he asked as he stared down at them.

"May we come in Severus, there is something that we would wish to ask you," McGonegall asked as she looked at him. Severus looked down at her and gritted his teeth. His gaze turned from Minerva to the sixteen year old girl standing at her side and his eyes narrowed. He didn't like to have company and he much less wanted a student from Griffindor in his private quarters. He reluctantly stepped aside and allowed all three of them to walk into the room and closed the door behind his visitors. He motioned for them to sit on the couch however they all shook their heads.

"What is it Minerva?" he asked as he stared at her.

"We were wondering if you'd seen Miss Lovegood," she asked as she looked up at him. He stared at her and blinked, his thoughts on the seventeen-year-old girl whom he hoped was still peacefully asleep on his bed. He turned his gaze to Minerva; he maintained his neutral mask over his face as he stared at the women before him.

"Why is it that you are looking for her?" he asked as he stared down at her.

"She's missing. No one has seen her since last night and Harry says that there was something wrong with her when she left. Besides she wouldn't have left without saying anything, besides she'd drunk quite a bit when I'd left her so she was in no condition to leave alone," Ginny said as she looked at Professor Snape. Severus turned to look at her.

"Isn't it than possible that she slept somewhere in the castle?" he asked as he stared down at them.

"Yes, that is why we've been searching for her. She's not in Ravenclaw tower, she's not in the hospital wing, she's not in the library, Astronomy tower, and she's not in any of the classrooms or hallways. She's nowhere to be seen," Minerva said as she looked at him.

"Have you thought to check the room of requirement?" Severus asked as he stared at them. They all exchanged looks.

"I don't believe we've thought to check that," Molly said as she stared at Minerva. Severus stared at them with a raised brow.

"I'm pretty sure that Harry searched it, Ron mentioned that Harry headed there," Ginny said as she turned her attention to her mother.

"Well I do not know what to say to you. I honestly don't know what it was that you thought that you would gain from me," he said as he stared down at them

"Well we figured she might've said something to you. She did spend a large part of the summer with you and by what Ginny's told me it seems that she didn't much mind," Mrs. Weasley said as she looked into Severus' eyes. Severus merely stared at her and nodded.

"Well I'm not sure what to say, I hardly saw her last night," he said civilly as he stared into her eyes.

"Well thank you very much Professor Snape. We're sorry that we've disturbed you," Mrs. Weasley said as she gently grabbed her daughter by the arm and they made their way towards the door. They opened the door and stopped when they saw that Minerva was still staring at Severus. She was eyeing him somewhat suspiciously. She walked towards the door, but as she reached the two Weasley women she turned around and looked at Snape.

"Severus, why are you still clothed in yesterday's clothing?" Minerva asked. Severus stared at her and wondered why she was behaving so strangely. When they were sitting together the previous evening she'd kept asking him about Luna. She'd asked him why Luna had sat next to him at the ceremony, why she had hugged him and asked him why he was calling her Luna instead of her surname. Why was she suddenly caring so much about what he did and didn't do?

"I haven't had the chance. I was very tired and fell asleep in my clothing. You three have just woke me from my slumber, which is the reason why I have not had a chance to change," he said as he stared down into Minerva's eyes, his voice was cold as his eyes were narrowed at her. She merely stared at him, in a calculating way. A thick silence fell over the room as the Head of Griffindor and the Head of Slytherin stared at each other. Perhaps ten minutes seemed to pass by and just as Minerva was about to say something Severus heard the dreaded sound of the door of his bedchamber opening.

Immediately the eyes of the three women turned to stare at Luna who was standing in the living room. She was still rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and was completely unaware of the fact that anyone was in the room. The mouths of all three women dropped open as they stared at the seventeen-year-old girl wearing a black button up shirt that was clearly not hers and a pair of what looked like black boxer shorts.

Severus closed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth, as he knew that this did not look right at all. The girl was coming out of his bedchamber, wearing one of his shirts and what looked like to be one of his boxer shorts, though, he knew that they belonged to Luna. He ran a hand through his hair and turned around to see Luna looking sleepy still. She looked like she was standing in the room half asleep. "Where am I? What time is it?" she asked in a sleepy voice as a yawn came out of her mouth.

"Severus what have you done?" He heard McGonegall's voice say softly with a tremble of horror and anger.

"Ginny, you need to leave. Professor McGonegall and myself need to be alone with Luna and Professor Snape," he heard Mrs. Weasley say. Ginny's eyes were wide with horror, wondering what happened to her friend. She reluctantly turned away from the scene and opened the door, her mother looked horrified and so did McGonegall, but Ginny could see the change coming over McGonegall's face. Her fear was slowly turning into livid rage.

"Send down Professor Dumbledore," McGonegall said before Ginny could set a foot outside the door. But at that moment Dumbledore was already standing before Ginny. Dumbledore did not stand-alone either, Remus Lupin stood behind him, and he was holding several pieces of parchment in his grasp. Undoubtedly he was holding the Marauders Map in his hands. There was a look of severity about Dumbledore and Remus looked sick and worried.

"No need Minerva, I am already here," Dumbledore said in his severe tone of voice. He looked down at Ginny. "You may leave Miss Weasley," he said as he looked down at her. Ginny nodded and walked out of the room. Dumbledore and Remus stepped into the room and closed the door behind them.

"What's going on?" Luna asked, but as she finished her sentence she fainted. Everyone stepped forward in concern, but Severus and Remus were the first to react and by far the quickest. However, Severus was the closer of the two and therefore he was the one that caught her before she hit the ground. He gently held her in his arms and brushed the hair out of her face. Remus stepped forward and took the girl from his arms, picking her up and taking her to the couch, glaring at Severus. He laid her down on the couch and checked her vital signs to make sure that she was all right.

"She's just tired, I haven't done anything to her," Severus said from were he stood in a cold voice.

"Not by the looks of it," Remus said through gritted teeth as he glared at Severus over the couch. He than turned his gaze back to Luna and pushed loose hairs out of her face. Luna was like a little sister to him. He loved her like one and he wanted to protect her from everything. He couldn't bare the thought that perhaps Severus had raped her. After all, by what Charlie said she'd had quite a lot to drink. It would've been only to easy for Severus to take advantage of Luna. He knew that they were dark thoughts, but he also knew that everyone in the room was thinking the very same.

"I must say Severus that at the moment you don't inspire very much confidence. The circumstances are very suspicious. You lied about not having seen Luna, she's wearing you're clothing, she came out of your bedchamber and she was drunk last night and didn't know what she was doing," Minerva said as she glared at him. Her voice was harsh and dripping with contempt and anger.

"Minerva has a point Severus," Dumbledore said as he stared at him. Severus turned his gaze to Dumbledore's sparkling blue eyes.

"What happened to innocent until proven guilty? Or does that not apply when the person to be proven guilty is not Harry Potter," Severus said as his gaze hardened. Molly Weasley was standing close to the door, still staring at Luna horrified. Dumbledore and McGonegall were standing close to each other and Remus Lupin was still kneeling down in front of the couch staring at Luna with concern and trying to wake her.

"That is unfair Severus, for you are still being given the chance to prove your innocence," Dumbledore said as he stared at Severus.

"I did nothing foul to her!" Severus shouted as he looked into Dumbledore's eyes, for he could see what Dumbledore believed.

"All right Severus, please explain to us than," he said as he looked at him.

"I noticed when Luna had left the Great Hall and I followed her out into the entrance hall and I saw that she was sitting on the floor. I walked over to her and I noticed that she was drunk so I offered to take her home, however she recoiled away from me when she heard the word and absolutely refused. So I offered to take her to take a cleansing potion and she allowed me to lead her down to the Dungeons, which is the only place were there is a cleansing potion in this castle. She fainted of exhaustion on the way down so I carried her and placed her in my bed and covered her with a blanket. I got the cleansing potion and poured it down her throat, but she was too tired to wake up."

"That doesn't explain the change of clothing," Remus said as he glared at Severus.

"I wasn't done yet!" Severus shouted as he stared down at him.

"Please continue than, Severus," Dumbledore said calmly.

"She awoke at six thirty in the morning, I'd fallen asleep in a chair next to the bed. She was tired and she wished to continue sleeping, but she asked me if I could lend her something to sleep in for she said her dress robes were too binding. I gave her the shirt. She went into the washroom adjacent to my bedchamber and changed into the shirt, the shorts that she is wearing are hers. She told me she always wore shorts beneath her robes. She crawled back beneath the covers and went to sleep and I came out here and I slept on the couch. I woke up when McGonegall and Mrs. Weasley came knocking," he explained as he stared into Dumbledore's eyes.

"Why should we believe anything that you say? Your serpentine tongue is used to creating lies that are plausible," Remus said as he looked up at him. "Why did the girl not know where she was? Why did she not know the time? Why was she disoriented if you gave her the Cleansing potion?" Remus asked as he stared over at Severus Snape.

"The girl has a name, it is Luna, and in case you haven't noticed Lupin, by our law she is considered a legal adult," Severus spat back. "Also the reason that she was disoriented was because she was half asleep if you had not noticed. She's told me that she hasn't had any sleep at home and that is the reason why she is so tired."

"Why should we believe that what you're saying is true?" Minerva asked.

"Because I would never rape anyone! Because I am decent and rape is a detestable, vile, abominable act!" Severus shouted. Remus stood from where he kneeled.

"You are not a decent human being! Like Sirius has always said you were a greasy git in school that never got any. Perhaps that is the reason why you raped her!" Remus shouted angrily. As they were both about to launch at each other they were glued to their spots by Dumbledore's wand.

"That is quite enough," Dumbledore said sternly and severely. "Calm down the both of you, there is to be no more shouting. Do you want everyone in the castle to know what is happening here?" Both Remus and Severus glared down at their feet and fell silent. Dumbledore than waved his wand when he was sure that neither of the two men would do anything to each other. Severus took a deep sigh and looked over at Dumbledore and walked over to him.

"Professor Dumbledore, I swear I did not rape Luna," Severus said earnestly.

"What good is that?" Remus said, turning around to face Dumbledore and Severus. Severus however ignored him.

"I did not rape Luna!" Severus exclaimed.

"Why should we believe that?" Remus asked. Severus turned around to look at him.

"Because I LOVE HER!" he shouted and everyone stood shocked. Severus turned around and looked into Dumbledore's shocked eyes and felt the tears in his eyes. "I am madly in love with Luna, I would never, NEVER do anything that would cause her harm," he said as he looked into Dumbledore's eyes. He turned around to look at Remus. "Would you ever do anything at all to harm Tonks?"

"Of course not," Remus said in a quite voice.

"And why not?" Severus said as he was trying to prove his point by having Remus state it.

"Because I would rather die a million horrible deaths than to be the cause of her suffering," he said as he looked down at his feet. Severus turned around and looked into Dumbledore's eyes.

"I would do the same if I ever hurt Luna," Severus said as he looked into his eyes.

"Professor Snape?"

**TBC…**


	24. Part XXIV

Second Best Part XXIV 

Everyone in the room turned their attention to the seventeen-year-old that was lying on the couch of Severus Snape. She was still asleep and there was a look of exquisite pain, written on her soft features. Her hand seemed to be reaching out for something that wasn't quite there. Severus walked over and kneeled before the couch and gently took her hand in his. Her fingers immediately closed upon his hand and her head tilted in his direction and yet her eyes remained closed.

"It's so cold," she said in a sleepy voice. He stared down at her hand and found that it was freezing cold. He stood up and removed his robes, which beneath he was wearing dress pants and a dress shirt, very much like the one that Luna was wearing. He placed his robes over her like a blanket and once more kneeled down next to her. He didn't much care for the fact that there were still other people in the room watching him.

"Luna, my dear. I fear that it is best that you wake up," Dumbledore said softly from where he stood. Luna groaned and turned her face away. "Please my dear, it is very urgent that we speak to you," Dumbledore said as he continued to stare at the sleeping form of the girl sleeping on the couch and his potions master kneeling before her. Dumbledore could clearly see how much the Potions master loved the girl; however, he hoped that there was nothing between him. After all, student teacher relationships were strictly forbidden.

Luna began to sit up, throwing her legs off the couch and sat with her back against the couch. Severus immediately stood up and stood back. Everyone watched as the girl sat on the couch, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She soon opened her eyes and once she got a look of everyone in the room they shot open. "Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonegall, Professor Lupin, Mrs. Weasley? What are all of you doing here?" she asked as she looked at them. Her face was extremely pale.

"We wish to ask you the very same thing," McGonegall said as she stared down at the girl. She looked over at Snape and her eyes looked sad. She stood up from the couch and looked over and Professor Dumbledore's eyes.

"Professor Dumbledore, I'm very sorry, but I do swear that Professor Snape did nothing to me. It is all my fault, I shouldn't have drunk so much, especially after Professor McGonegall warned me not to," she said as she looked down at her feet with shame. "Professor Snape only wanted to take me home safely, but I wouldn't let him and I agreed to let him administer the cleansing potion and I fear that I must've finally given into my exhaustion," she said as she finally looked up and looked at Dumbledore sheepishly. "I have not slept at all since I've been home."

"When you woke from your slumber what happened?" Mrs. Weasley said as she stepped closer to the circle of people. Luna looked over at her best friends mother.

"I was in Professor Snape's bed with a blanket over me and Professor Snape was sitting in a chair beside the bed. I apologized for taking up his bed and he said that if I wished to go back to sleep that it was fine by him. I was perfectly fine by then, I didn't feel drunk anymore. I asked him if I could borrow something to sleep in and he gave me a shirt. I went into the washroom and I changed into the shirt and these shorts I was wearing beneath my robes," Luna said as she looked at Mrs. Weasley in the eye. "Professor Snape didn't do anything. He would never do something like that."

"That does not change the fact that Professor Snape loves you Miss Lovegood. You are a student and such feelings are not acceptable," McGonegall said as she stared down at her. Luna looked at her with horrified eyes. She than turned her gaze to Professor Dumbledore, who merely nodded in response.

"Did you already know of Professor Snape's affections?" he asked as he stared down at her. Luna nodded in response.

"I found out a couple of days ago by reading something that I should not have read, but Professor Snape never even implied such a thing in his actions or words. He was professional at all times," Luna said as she looked into Dumbledore's eyes. "Please do not take away his job. I am not a child, I am a woman and it's the summer so technically I am not his student. And for another thing, I never did say that I was going to come back for my seventh year at Hogwarts, therefore you have no reason to lay him off."

"Luna, but you said you wanted to be a medi-witch. Don't give up your education for Professor Snape," Remus said as he looked at her. Severus stared down at her and wondered why she was making this sacrifice for him.

"Remus is right, Luna," Severus said as he stared down at her. Luna turned her gaze to him.

"I wanted to be a medi-witch in my second year, I have changed much since than. I do not think that I would very much like to have to wear a uniform and know that at times no amount of magic could save someone from a certain faith. Besides, I could continue learning outside of Hogwarts if I so wished. I'm sure that I can learn a lot more about magic from the world than from the confines of the castle," Luna said as she looked at Remus and Severus both. She than turned her attention to Professor Dumbledore who was staring at her with sparkling eyes. Luna could see that his eyes were smiling at her, though his face remained neutral.

"But you love coming to Hogwarts," McGonegall said. Luna turned to stare into McGonegall's eyes.

"Everything changes. I loved coming to Hogwarts because it was an escape of mundane life at home, but I am old enough to move out from home and do other things," she said as she looked at Professor McGonegall. She than turned her gaze to look at Professor Dumbledore. "Besides, if I remained at Hogwarts, the one things that I loved the most about going to classes would be gone," she said as she turned her gaze to look at Severus.

"What?" he asked in a very surprised fashion.

"You've always been what I've enjoyed most about Hogwarts, for Ginny is the only person that's ever treated me like a friend. But you, you've always fascinated me. I used to always look forward to potions class because I could watch your every precise move and the way you spoke and I would try very hard to imitate your preciseness. You did everything so perfectly, it was hypnotizing to watch and try to duplicate. I also loved to laugh at your little witty comments that held so much contempt and cynicism towards anything and everything. You were a mystery that delighted and entertained me," she said as she looked into his eyes with a small smile on her face.

He could hardly believe his ears and he was sure that everyone else in the room couldn't either. "Luna are you sure you do not wish to return to Hogwarts?" Dumbledore asked, but Luna did not turned to look at him. She merely continued to stare into Snape's eyes; she was delighted by his astonishment.

"Positively sure," she responded as she continued to stare into his eyes.

"Well than there you are most definitely not a student and you are of age to know what you are doing," Dumbledore said as he stared at Luna and his gaze than turned to Snape. "Professor Snape, you are free to continue your post. We are very sorry for barging into your room and accusing you of something. We shall leave you alone now," Dumbledore stated.

"Thank you Professor," Severus said without turning to look at Dumbledore. Dumbledore nodded and walked towards the door and motioned for the rest to follow him, however they were all too transfixed to moved. Dumbledore cleared his throat and they all immediately followed him out and he closed the door behind them leaving both Severus and Luna alone in the room.

"Luna why did you sacrifice your…" but his mouth was stopped with a gentle kiss.

TBC… 

**A/N: **I think that this is drawing to its end. Wow, sooner than I thought. I thought that I would write at least thirty chapters. I think it might end in the next chapter. Please leave me a review!


	25. Part 25

Authors Note: Never mind, I think that this can't be the end yet because I really want to close this up. So I'm pretty sure chapter 30 would nicely tie up any loose ends. Second Best Part XXV 

Luna walked into the hall in the dress robes which she had worn the previous night and walked over to sit by her best friend and the single long table which had been set up in the Great Hall. She wasn't surprised to find that despite the fact that there weren't many people in the great hall, it was still buzzing about the incident in the morning, which she was sure that Ginny spread like wildfire.

"Hey Ginny," she said as she sat down next to her. Ginny was sitting with Ron, Hermione, Harry and Charlie all around her and everyone turned their attention to look at Luna. Luna however was looking down the table and could see Dumbledore, McGonegall, Lupin, Tonks, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were all talking. The only smile that she could see was on the face of Dumbledore and Tonks. Luna was sure that they were talking about Snape and herself.

"What happened? Mum said that Snape didn't do anything to you, but what happened?" Ginny asked. Luna slowly turned her attention to her best friend and at the faces around the table that were staring at her. Now joining them was Percy, the twins, Bill and Fleur.

"Of course Severus didn't do anything to me, it seems absurd that anyone would think that he would," she said as she took a bite of toast in front of her. There was a large smile on her face, which would not go away. Everyone stared at her; they were all befuddled that she had just used his first name

"Severus?" Harry, Hermione and Ron asked. Luna looked up at them and finished the bite of toast in her mouth.

"It is his name," she said as she looked into their eyes. Luna smiled and than proceeded to tell them about the previous night and why she was in his room in the morning. She also told them about how she sleep walked out of bed and when she woke up by Professor Dumbledore who wanted to talk to her. She then explained and told them everything that happened from that point until everyone left, leaving out what she said directly to Professor Snape.

"Professor Snape is still going to be teaching? You're not going to come to Hogwarts anymore?" Ginny asked as she looked at her best friend.

"Yes he's still teaching here and I won't be coming back to Hogwarts. I'm going to get a place of my own," Luna responded. "I can't come back because if I do he will lose his job and I really want him to keep his job. When everyone left he let me write an owl to my dad and I told him that I would not be moving back home, and that I am accepting his offer to work at Quibbler for a chance for me and him to get to know each other once more."

"What are you going to do at the Quibbler?" Hermione asked as she looked over at her.

"I'm only beginning there so I won't be doing much. Mainly sorting things out, filing, running errands for people. Like the job of an assistant, I'll also be working quite a bit with the Jr. Editor with editing and learning what his job is like. After all I will inherit The Quibbler," she responded as she looked at Hermione.

"That's interesting and all Luna, but I need you here. With you gone I'm going to fail potions and Professor Snape is still going to be here," Ginny said as she looked at her friend. Ginny turned around and looked at her friends. She knew that what she meant was that she was going to miss her, but Ginny didn't like to sound needy. She hated it.

"Well Ginny, you can always just do your work and pay attention. Also, you can always owl me if you need any help. Actually I'm going to buy a two-way mirror for us. That way we can talk to each other easily," Luna said as she looked into her friend's eyes.

"Luna I don't understand, it doesn't make any sense to me. Why are you not going to come to school anymore? I don't understand," Ginny said as she looked at her. Luna turned to look at her; the smile wouldn't go away from her face. Luna looked around at her and found that everyone was still watching. She soon turned her attention back to Luna and looked deep into her eyes.

"Ginny have you noticed something different about me?" Luna asked as she looked at her friend. Ginny stared at her and thought for a moment.

"You look much more happier than I ever remember seeing you. I don't think I've ever seen you smile that broadly," Ginny said as she looked at Luna in the eyes.

"That's because I have never felt like this before. I have never before in my entire life felt the way that I do now. This feeling that I feel, it just won't make this smile go away. I can't stop smiling! I don't think that there is anything that could make me lose it," Luna said as she looked at her friend's eyes. "In my entire time that I spent at Professor Snape's Manor, I got to know things about him that I never before knew about him and he knows things about me that not even you know. He was there for me this entire summer, through all the bad things and he's someone that I could count on. Ginny, I fell in love with him and he's in love with me."

"You're in love with Professor Snape?" Ginny said incredulously. Luna nodded.

"You see how happy he's made me, can you please accept it?" Luna said as she looked at her friend.

"All right, but if he hurts you I will go after him. I don't care if he is a teacher, if he breaks your heart, I will certainly break something of his," Ginny said as she looked at her friend in her eyes. Luna smiled but before she could hug her friend she heard a very familiar, velvety voice say something.

"Is that how you wish to start a new year in Potions, a year in which you will not have the help of Luna to pass the class?" Luna shivered at the sound and turned around to see that he was standing behind her. There was a small grin on his face that made him look sexy. Ginny turned around to look at Snape and had to admit that he at least looked acceptable now, with his hair washed and everything. Luna stood up from where she was sitting and wrapped her arms around him, and he wrapped his arms around her and turned his attention to look at Ginny. "And don't worry about having to break any of my bones if I break her heart, for I shall do it myself if I ever do."

"That's fine, just as long as I don't see the two of you snogging, I do not need that image in my head," Ginny said as she turned away and started eating.

"Are you ready to go?" Snape said as he looked at the bottom of Luna's head. Luna looked up at him and looked around.

"Actually there is one last thing that I have to do, but I'll meet you in the entrance hall," she said as she looked up into his eyes. He nodded and placed a kiss on her forehead before turning around and walking away. Luna turned around and walked past Ginny and sat down next to Charlie.

"How long have you known?" Charlie asked as he took a bite of his eggs without turning to look at her. Luna stared at him with a sad glance, but her smile would not fade.

"I think that I've always known, or at least part of me did, but I didn't really realize it until last night," Luna said as she looked at him. He turned around and looked at her. He was a bit melancholy. "I was sitting on the floor in the entrance hall and I heard him say my name, and I think it was than that I realized. Just the way that his mere voice makes me feel, the sound of it and the way that he said my name."

"I think that it's fascinating, your case gives me hope yet. If someone like Professor Snape can find love at his age, with a beautiful young woman, makes me feel loads better," Charlie said with a smile as he looked at her. "Luna I'm fine, I'm perfect. I'm very happy for you, I only hope that Professor Snape treats you well and that he doesn't try and cross any line that you are not ready to cross."

"Thanks for the advice Charlie. I'm glad that you're okay with his. I just hope that you and I can be friends," she said as she looked at him in his eyes.

"Sure, you can come to me whenever you need advice on anything. I'll give you advice like I give all my brothers and my sister," he said as he looked at her and gave her a smile. Luna smiled at him and gave him a hug before getting up and walking out of the Great Hall and making her way to Severus.

**TBC…**


End file.
